So now, some young women on campus are fighting for their right to
party. It seems obvious that sorority members (and the other women on
campus) would be safer in their own homes than at frat parties. The
problem is that the scenario is risky for the sororities themselves. For
the national organizations and local chapters, banning alcohol is a
financial calculation, not a moral one—staying dry helps them to avoid
the legal liabilities shouldered by raucous fraternities. Drinking
contributes not just to campus rape but also to physical fights,
accidents, poisoning, and other destructive behaviors. James R. Favor & Company, an insurance company that covers more than a dozen fraternities, told the Times in 2012
that one national fraternity was paying an average of $812,951 in
annual settlements until it went dry, at which point its annual payout
dropped to $15,388. An officer with the National Panhellenic Conference
told the Times that “she preferred to preserve the relative
calm of sorority houses, and continue to let fraternities assume the
cost, risk and cleanup of house parties.”