Many men and women across the country experience Greek life. They join sororities and fraternities, which will help them in their pursuit of education. One of the essential parts of college life is parties. However, it seems that not everyone is allowed to have one, and for a sorority, organizing a party is forbidden.
Here, we will cover all the reasons why there is a difference between fraternities and sororities as well as how you can organize a party if you are in one.
Is It Really Illegal for a Sorority to Throw Parties?
If you are shocked by the title, you are probably wondering if this is true. Can sororities throw a party, or is it illegal? Well, the answer is both yes and no. There are no laws that prevent sorority parties, which means that it is not illegal. However, there is still one important problem or difference compared to fraternities.
According to the National Panhellenic Conference, the twenty-six member sororities don’t allow alcohol in their houses. In theory, a sorority can indeed throw a party, but drinking alcohol is not allowed. Since many believe that parties with alcohol are the only reasonable type of parties, they declared that sororities couldn’t have one.
The only way for a sorority to organize a party is if they co-host fraternity parties or if they have a third-party vendor. This means that sororities will either need male help or assistance from the outside. While this might sound unfair, we should mention that sororities pay significantly lower insurance premiums thanks to the no-alcohol rule.
Fraternities also need to clean the house, replace or pay for any broken items, pay higher insurance premiums, be at risk of sanctions, keep people in line, and so much more. Even though they are allowed to have parties in their houses, there are so many things they need to cover before they can start having fun.
The Process of Throwing Parties
If you are interested in having a party on the college campus, there are a couple of ways to do it. As we have mentioned already, sororities are not allowed to organize a party unless they agree to co-host it with a fraternity. On the other hand, fraternity houses can have as many parties as they want.
However, before they can have a party, they first need to get approval. There are numerous party rules they need to follow. Laws can vary from state to state as well. In some states, if a person is injured, they can hold the host responsible for the injury. Furthermore, serving alcohol to any person that’s under twenty-one is a criminal offense.
Another common rule is that there must be at least one sober mentor in charge of overseeing the entire situation. There are so many other rules that may apply to both sororities and fraternities. People often believe that frat parties are similar to Mad Max, where they can do whatever they like, but the reality is usually a bit different. Tips to throw the best house party in college.
The Alcohol Ban in Sorority Houses
The National Panhellenic Conference or NPC is an umbrella organization of twenty-six sororities across the U.S. and Canada. The organization provides resources and guidance for sorority members, and they represent more than four million women across 650 universities. It was founded in 1902, which is why some of the rules might seem a bit outdated.
As we have mentioned before, the NPC is in charge of most sororities in the country, and they are the ones behind the alcohol ban. Even though each member of the group is autonomous, the organization still decided that banning alcohol is the only safe option. The reason for this is that each of the governing national chapters agreed to follow the rule.
Of course, the primary reason behind this is lower insurance. If you take a look at fraternities, it seems like the right choice. The smell of alcohol is difficult to remove, and there are so many things that can be damaged during a party. As we all know, young men are not the most responsible group of people, and they often need to replace broken items or suffer punishment from the fraternity. See these tips in rushing a sorority.
Not All Hopes Are Gone
One of the things we learned in the past is that you can’t stop people from having fun. When the prohibition was strong in the country, people couldn’t buy alcohol anywhere. Yet, it didn’t stop them from finding ways to get their hands on a drink or seven. The same rule applies here. Yes, sororities can’t host a party, but that doesn’t mean they can’t go to one.
There are a couple of ways you can organize this type of social event, even if you are not doing it on your own. The first option we have already mentioned is to co-host it with the fraternity. This is something that proves to be an excellent choice since sororities will get all the fun from organizing the party but none of the consequences. The majority of members are perfectly fine with this method, but there are others who highly object to it.
They see it as a demonstration of inequality and show that women can only have a party with the help of a fraternity. If they are not willing to help them, then the sorority is out of luck. It is not rare to find a party organized by men, who are in charge of door duty, and they get a chance to decide who is allowed to join the party and who isn’t. The NPC has declared that their primary goal is scholarship, leadership, and engagement and that these practices work best in an alcohol-free environment. They also said that it doesn’t matter where the party takes place.
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