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Brown University Suspends Fraternity After at Least 1 Student Tests Positive for Date Rape Drug

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Brown University responded quickly after a student who drank spiked punch tested positive for a date rape drug by suspending the fraternity that hosted the party.

According to the Providence Journal, the Ivy League institution informed the campus community of the Oct. 17 incident in an email Saturday. The party took place in the Sears House and Phi Kappa Psi is the school's only fraternity that uses it.

Brown said in the email that the fraternity has been suspended, but the length was not specified.

Margaret Klawunn, vice president for Campus Life and Student Services at Brown, wrote in the letter that one student tested positive for gamma hydroxybutrate (GHB), the Journal reported. Another student is known to have drank the same punch at the party, but those tests are still pending.

"GHB is a colorless, ordorless drug that can be hard to detect in a drink, but has a strong sedative effect that is incapacitating," the email reads.

The email went on to encourage anyone with information regarding the alcohol-laced punch and/or the GHB to contact Sgt. John Carvalho, of the Brown University Department of Public Safety, at (401) 863-3322.

Only recently did the federal Clery Act expand to include "credible reports" of date rape drugs that represent a general threat to the campus community, the Journal reported. The law requires schools to disclose any and all campus crimes in a timely manner, as well as release annual reports detailing crime stats. Failure to do so results in fines up $35,000 per violation.

The new Clery requirements clearly fit this case, as both students reported symptoms like "a rapid onset of intoxication" and "memory loss for a significant period of time."

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