A fraternity in Boulder was suspended by its national office Sunday in the middle of a police investigation of parties that sent University of Colorado women to the hospital.
The national Phi Kappa Tau fraternity said no timeline has been set for how long the Boulder chapter would be suspended, but it will be at least through the end of the academic year.
“Our investigation indicated a culture within our chapter that is not representative of the values and principles of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity nor those of the Greek community in Boulder,” chief executive Steve Hartman said in a release.
Nine women, ages 18 and 19, went to the hospital with symptoms associated with alcohol poisoning Sept. 24, the same night Boulder’s Phi Kappa Tau and Sigma Pi fraternities had parties.
Since then, two of those women were ruled by police to have no connection to either party. Two of the seven women connected with the parties tested positive for the “date-rape drug” gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
Boulder fraternity spokesman Marc Stine said the decision to suspend Phi Kappa Tau came from a pattern of behavior over a period of time, not because of the GHB investigation. “I want to strongly emphasize that the ‘date-rape drug’ incident currently under investigation … played absolutely no role whatsoever in this action,” Stine wrote.
A reward for information about the GHB incidents stands at $5,000 after donations from Boulder County CrimeStoppers, CU, the Sigma Pi national fraternity and the Interfraternity Council.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 720-929-0893 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
