A London, Ontario fraternity, Zeta Psi, is currently being investigated following a party where several women were drugged and needed to be taken to the hospital. The party took place at Zeta Psi in January, located at 116 Mill Street in downtown London, and included an open bar.
While sororities and fraternities in London aren’t officially affiliated with Western University, their members are exclusively Western students. Specifically, at the Zeta Psi party where the alleged drugging incidents took place, attendance was restricted to Zeta Psi men only, while sorority women and their friends were also invited to attend.
In her interview with CBC News, one of the women who attended the party said that after having four or five drinks, she became incoherent, and her friends had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
Furthermore, she added that she has no memory of much of the night, but believes that a drug was slipped into her drink.
“This has to be taken seriously,” said the woman, who has requested to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation. “The only way to deter this kind of behaviour and stop it is for the school to clamp down hard on these people because if they’re allowed to get away with it, if they don’t see any consequences, they could potentially perpetrate this again.”
“I was really shocked that this happened after the increased awareness in September,” the woman added. “There was the walkout, a lot of stuff on social media discouraging that kind of behaviour, and then it happens again.”
Earlier this fall, several Western University students reported being drugged during orientation week in residence, resulting in a police investigation, as well as an organized rally held on campus to protest misogyny and rape culture at the university. In addition, following these incidents, the university faced pressure to find new strategies to combat gender-based and sexual violence.
“All gender-based and sexual violence is deplorable and we won’t tolerate it,” Chris Alleyne, one of Western’s associate vice-presidents, said in a statement. “Everyone must play a part in addressing this societal problem and preventing this kind of violence from happening at all.”
