A frat at the University of Miami has been closed down after video footage was released showing its members chanting before a party about killing and raping women.
Frat members were also accused of drugging women who came to a party at the frat, campus paper The Miami Hurricane reported.
A number of women spoke to the outlet, saying that they believe that they were roofied at the frat as they went to the party off campus in Coral Gables on 1 October.
Several said they saw a white powder in their drinks, and others grew very ill, including cases of vomiting and becoming unconscious.
The chief communication officer of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Heather Matthews, said in a statement that “on Friday, the Sigma Phi Epsilon’s National Board of Directors unanimously decided to revoke the charter of the chapter at University of Miami”.
The video was obtained by The Hurricane and showed a group of young men singing about digging up a woman to have sex with her.
The frat, established in 1949, was shut down after its national headquarters looked into an anonymous report concerning drugged drinks at the Saturday 1 October “Adult Swim” party.
One of the women at the party, Abby, told The Hurricane that “me and my other friend had like white powder in our drinks”.
“I hadn’t seen that before,” she added.
She said that other female partygoers “had never felt that sick or they didn’t think they drank that much to get to the point where they were throwing up a lot”.
The report sent to the frat’s headquarters also mentioned that the chant included a line about keeping the victim in a wooden box.
“The National Headquarters received admissible information that SigEp members violated policy and engaged in actions that are not aligned with the values of this Fraternity,” Ms Matthews added in her statement. “We expect SigEp chapters to provide their members and campus community a safe and supportive environment. That’s the cornerstone of a positive Fraternity and university experience, so we take that expectation seriously and hold our chapters to that standard.”
The senior vice president for student affairs, Patricia Whitely, told The Hurricane that “the University of Miami continually communicates a clear set of policies and expectations to all of our Greek organizations that are designed to encourage a safe, healthy and positive experience for UM students”.
“The University received allegations the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter violated university policy and participated in behavior that is inconsistent with the values and expectations of the university community and their national fraternity. We have partnered with Sigma Phi Epsilon for 73 years and we support their decision to close the chapter effective immediately,” she added.
