Safety for Women: Home Court Advantage

By ALAN SCHWARZ JAN. 19, 2015

WASHINGTON — Walking past some fraternity parties on the George Washington University campus Saturday night, Sivan Sherriffe wondered about a longstanding tradition at her school and colleges nationwide.

“I’ve always thought, ‘Why aren’t there sorority house parties? There are only frat parties,’ ” she said to a friend, Dania Roach, a fellow senior. Ms. Roach replied: “I would definitely feel safer at a sorority party. It’s the home-court advantage.”

For decades, national sorority organizations have banned alcohol in their houses. But as debate intensifies over how to address sexual assaults on college campuses, many of them occurring at fraternity house parties, some female students are questioning that rule, asserting that allowing alcohol would give women — not just sorority members — the option to attend Greek house parties that women control, from setting off-limits areas to deciding the content of the punch. The move would by no means eliminate sexual violence on campus, they said, but perhaps provide a benefit.

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