
In teenage society today, the more someone can drink, the more impressive they look in the eyes of their peers. College students, especially fraternity boys, are frequently trying to outdrink one another, prove their abilities, or show off to a friend or crush. Whereas drinking used to be a casual social activity leaving people feeling relaxed and maybe a bit buzzed, today’s drinking culture revolves around blacking out, getting laid, or wreaking havoc. The morning after a night out often consists of friends desperately texting or calling each other trying to piece together their nights. Although some nights’ end with laughs, blurry pictures and hazy memories, some nights’ end in bruises, tears, and assault. It has been proven that college students who engage in excessive drinking are more likely to be involved in a sexual assault case, either as the victim or the attacker. Furthermore, it has been noted that the drinking culture within Greek organizations, specifically fraternities, at large American universities, has a distinct impact on the amount of sexual assault that occurs on those college campuses. 

Fraternity brothers often compete for the status of the “biggest bro” by consuming immense amounts of alcohol. Boys who drink less, or can’t handle their intoxication when pressured to drink more, are often teased for being “lightweights”. If a fraternity member was to walk into a bathroom and find another member laying on the floor next to a puddle of puke, the suffering brother would immediately be labeled with derogatory terms such as a “pussy” or “faggot”. Although the students within these fraternities view the above mentioned bullying as harmless jokes, it is considered hazing, which is a huge problem at many colleges. Hazing can range anywhere from something as harmless as getting a “pledge” to clean up your apartment, to forcing these men into activities that could result in grave consequences. Some of the hazing of students rushing a fraternity has even been recognized as “severe and inhumane”, and may even include getting a girl so drunk that she’ll be too intoxicated to say no to sex, or even encouraging the potential “newbies” to spike a girl’s drink (Paquette). The younger boys feel that by drinking copious amounts of alcohol or having intercourse with a girl, they are proving themselves worthy of a spot in their desired fraternity. These students are also frightened by the fact that if they were to stand up for these women, or refuse to complete an abhorrent hazing request, they would have no chance of being accepted into the fraternity. 

While it is widely understood that majority of college students engage in risky amounts of underage drinking, it is not understood that this heavy drinking “is one of the most significant predictors of sexual assault” (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga). This is backed up with the evidence that “women who say they sometimes or often drink more than they should are twice as likely to be victims of completed, attempted or suspected sexual assault than those who rarely or never drink.” (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga). Within their article discussing the centralism of drinking to the college culture, their belief that “college for many, is a generously spike four years” due to the ceaseless parties, bar crawls, day drinks, and tailgates (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga).  This only serves to reiterate the notion that college students are surrounded by alcohol and often feel they must partake in these “festivities” in order to cohere to the college lifestyle. Alcohol’s ability to provide confidence and comfortability allows college students to feel less awkward in new social settings. The lowering of inhibitions makes it easier to meet new people, including probable “hooks-ups”. 

During an interview with Kyra Stephenson, an anti-sexual violence activist, it was brought up that ““There is this idea in our college culture that alcohol and sex should always be available…the whole context around alcohol is this is something we do to facilitate sex.” (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga). Alcohol is regularly used, but not exclusively, by college students, in hope that it will lead to some sort of sexual interaction. Furthermore, it is oftentimes used negatively by fraternity members in order to take advantage of an unwilling female victim. A specific relative case involving an anonymous female freshman who attended a fraternity party at Boston University, mentions the female playing the popular drinking game “beer-pong” with a guy she was friendly with. After attempting to piece together her hazy night, she remembered her so-called friend, and other fraternity members continuously encouraging her to drink “…even though I was probably already in an unsafe condition.” (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga). The victim recalls feeling extremely nervous and afraid, but continued to act casually because she was ashamed to seem uncool, or cause a scene in front of the older, cooler fraternity guys she desperately wanted to impress. The victim remembers faintly hearing the attacker’s “brothers” cheering him on as the two of them made their way upstairs. During her interview, the victim reported “I feel like I should have been able to verbalize ‘I would like to do this’ or ‘I wouldn’t like to do this’ before it happened”, but never had the chance (Brown, Hendrix, and Svrluga). 

This case highlights the sense of belonging and the feeling of praise which are obviously apparent when discussing brotherhood within fraternities. If you were to individually ask male college students, specifically ones in a fraternity, if rape is acceptable, most likely every answer would be “No”. Yet while it is morally understood that rape and sexual assault is wrong, when these college-aged boys are put together in social settings, their morality levels conform in order to fit in with the surrounding behaviors and stigma. The idea of “getting laid” is much more impressive to these groups than the principle of respect and virtuous behavior.

Most people might even admit that they think of college as the time for getting around in the hookup world. College is known for not only providing students with an education, but allowing them to experiment, meet new people, and go a little crazy before having to settle into the real world. While females are often judged for their “body-count” number, boys are praised for being able to sleep with as many girls as they can. Though the approval and commendation these boys receive from their friends is undeniably an important factor behind the sexual relations they have, it is not the only one. As Jessica Bennett explained, “fraternity culture reinforces ‘within-group attitudes’ that perpetuate sexual coercion” (Bennett). Boys belonging to fraternities feed off of each-others behaviors, opinions, and ideals. It has been recognized that fraternities exert a huge amount of social control on college campuses due to the fact that they provide willing students with alcohol, drugs, parties, and more college “essentials”. The power these groups gain from their influence over a campus ties in with the power the members gain from impressing their friends by being able to have sex with a girl. Thereby reinstating that the sexual relations these fraternity boys have, whether consensual or not, are not only for pleasure, but for power.

 During their four years, fraternity members may feel as though they run the school which they attend. Their status and brotherhood grants them with many privileges and connections “And when the frat boys grow up? they slide right into the boy’s club of the business world, where brothers land Wall Street jobs via the ‘fraternity pipeline’” (Bennett). As the business world is overruled by the males, so is college. Within almost all aspects of life and society, males are the ones who have the power and make the rules. One Penn State University freshman even acknowledged noticing right away that "there's a sense of subordination to the fraternities. They have so much power here on campus,” (qtd. in Paquette). Since sororities are not allowed to host parties and serve alcohol, the social scene at some schools is left entirely in the hands of fraternities. Girls are often granted entry to a party based on how attractive the fraternity member at the front door deems them. And while during the daytime or for classes males and females typically dress similarly in a casual manner, when it comes time to go out, “…the guys will still be dressed that way, while the women will be sporting party dresses, high heels and make-up” (Bennett). The fact that the male students can stay in the same, comfortable outfit all day and night, while females have to change into more provocative and revealing clothing, speaks volumes about the authority that lies within fraternities. 

When thinking about a sexual assault or rape perpetuator, it is likely that a male figure will come into someone’s mind. It has been proven through endless surveys and studies that men are more likely to sexually assault, or attempt to sexually assault, someone. Just within college, “fraternity men are three times more likely to rape” than women or even non-fraternity member male students (Bennett). Yet terms like “slut-shaming” and “victim blaming” still exist, and are quite prevalent. These phrases refer to blaming a female sexual assault victim for deserving to be raped due to the clothing she was, or was not, wearing, or because her intoxicated behavior was misleading. Proposals to fixing the sexual assault problem on college campuses are mostly related to creating a dry campus, putting an end to fraternities, making them attend sexual assault prevention seminars, or implementing a mandatory online interactive program which educates about sexual assault and how to avoid/prevent it. However, the University of Missouri is challenging this norm through their consideration of banning women from fraternity houses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, which are known as “party nights”, in order to yield sexual assault that occurs at fraternity parties. 

Tessa Berenson, a journalist for Time, writes about this controversial fix occurring not only at the University of Missouri, but also several other colleges. At the University of Virginia, sorority members were “outraged after their national chapters ordered them to avoid fraternity parties over the weekend” (Berenson). These women have spoken out about their feelings that “instead of addressing rape and sexual assault at UVA, this mandate perpetuates the idea that women are inferior, sexual objects” (Berenson). Because females are typically the ones who are attacked, certain groups agree that preventing them from socially interacting with fraternity members will cease the sexual assault occurrences. The understood and accepted norm in college is that girls often dress and behave in certain ways to make themselves appear more attractive. And while their goal is not to get raped, it is clear that they are showing more skin, or drinking more alcohol to impress the boys attending the same parties. While it is impossible to control the way every college aged female dresses or acts, by keeping these women out of the fraternity member’s sight and reach, it makes the possibility of sexual assault much less likely. Whiles sorority members are angered by this idea, supporters claim that it is reasonable due to the fact that men are often times “tricked” into raping a girl because it was unclear of what she wanted, or because she acted/ dressed like she wanted to have sex. 

This controversial approach has lead one sorority member to speak out for herself and many others, explaining “I don’t understand where or when I signed up for an organization that encouraged women to hide from men,” (qtd. in Berenson). Female empowerment and equality is stronger in today’s society than ever before. Female college students, sorority members and parents are fighting this clause with the belief that colleges “should not violate the rights of those who live by the rules simply because they are in some way affiliated with those who do not” (qtd. in Smithhisler). Many people refuse to accept this approach, as it is unfair to punish women, and teach them how not to get raped, when the focus should be on teaching men not to rape. When interviewing members of sororities at Penn State University, one 19-year-old female student disclosed that her and her friends understood the way to avoid sexual assault at fraternity parties, was to avoid going upstairs because “all of the scary things at frats seem to happen upstairs” (qtd. in Paquette). In college lingo, it has been recognized that “want to go upstairs” is code for “want to have sex?”. The issue standing behind this is the fact that a student whom has had too much to drink may not have a clear understanding of what is being asked, and agree to go upstairs, without realizing that the other student is taking this answer as sexual consent. 

In reality, it is typically the men who are more crude in their behaviors and beliefs when it comes to sex. For example, a notebook written in by members of two fraternities at North Carolina State University, left behind and found at a local restaurant, contained vulgar sexually violent statements such as “if she’s hot enough, she doesn’t need a pulse” (qtd. in Paquette). Fraternity members take pride in their obscenity, and even include proclamations such as “tonight’s they type of night that makes fathers afraid to send their daughters away to school” in party invitations in order to boast about the expectations of their event (Dvorak). It is undeniable that “the fraternity selection process inhibits diversity and promotes dangerous group-think” which encourages committing sexually violent acts in order to stay true to the fraternity expectations and take pride in their brotherhood (Paquette). 
