Of the many issues about sexism in Greek life, one is paramount: Fraternities are granted much more leniency around alcohol regulation.

Being a member of a sorority is a piece of my identity I hold with pride. Yet, a degrading issue I and other women continue to face is the male social supremacy in Greek life. Equal leniency around social events should be granted to sororities and fraternities in order to reduce power imbalance in Greek life.

In 1998, the National Panhellenic Conference, which oversees 26 sororities, declared that sororities are not permitted to organize planned parties with fraternities where alcohol is present. Northwestern’s Panhellenic Association strictly abides by these rules.

“Fraternities are (also) supposed to be dry,” Interfraternity Council president Will Altabef said.

Therefore, both fraternity and sorority houses should be completely dry. But here is where the inequality comes in.

“Sororities have a live-in house director, or a house mom, whereas only one fraternity (on campus) has that,” Altabef said.

Although sororities are under constant surveillance of alcohol inside the house, most fraternities are not. Altabef added that IFC’s surveillance works differently.

“As a member of IFC doing rounds at night, if I can’t see alcohol or any clear signs of a social function that’s not registered, I’m not allowed to go into someone else’s residence,” Altabef said.

This IFC regulation protects fraternities from alcohol surveillance unless there is probable cause to think drinking is occurring inside the house. Most fraternities host parties with sororities, and as long as drinking is not evident and no public disturbances are being made, the party will not be investigated. This stricter rule enforcement decreases sororities’ ability to host equal parties to fraternities in terms of alcohol availability.

Social inequality like this creates power imbalance among men and women.

Not only does greater leniency for fraternities give men the upper hand, it may also cause women to behave in ways in which they are uncomfortable. Women may feel obligated to impress fraternity brothers so their sororities continue to receive invitations to fraternity mixers. In an environment where students are drunk and men have more power, students are also much more vulnerable to sexual violence.

According to a 2007 study by the Department of Justice, women who attended fraternity parties were significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted. Another study conducted in 2014 by the University of Oregon indicated that women in Greek life experienced non-consensual sexual violence more frequently than women unaffiliated with Greek life.

IFC and PHA should coordinate a system of equal rules surrounding social events. Perhaps if more leniency was granted to sororities, women would be more likely to throw their own parties instead of attending fraternity mixers. This would, in turn, help improve women’s safety against sexual violence.

Gender inequality and sexual assault continue to be significant issues across the country. Changing unfair systems on college campuses is the first step to eventually granting full equality and power to women and men.

Alana Farkas is a Weinberg freshman. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.