Fraternities are responsible for a disproportionate share of sexual assaults reported on college campuses, according to campus misconduct data cited in a Vogue opinion piece published September 30, 2026, which called on universities to ban Greek life outright.
The article's author, Emma Specter, wrote that after training as a Sexual Misconduct Advisor at Kenyon College in her junior year, she learned that "the overwhelming majority of assaults, rapes, and other boundary-crossing situations" reported to the school's anonymous, student-run hotline occurred in fraternities. Kenyon, a small liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, has four active fraternities and four active sororities on campus.
Specter acknowledged that fraternity members do not hold a monopoly on predatory behavior, but pointed to a 2021 study finding that fraternity men are three times more likely to commit sexual assault than non-fraternity men. The piece also cited a 2019 survey of 89,000 students across 33 universities that found sorority and fraternity members reported higher rates of sexual assault than unaffiliated students.
Kenyon is not alone in facing pressure over Greek life. Wesleyan University announced in 2024 that it would phase out its residential fraternities over the following three years, becoming one of a small number of colleges to take that step. Amherst College, Bowdoin College, and Colby College have all ended fraternity recognition in past decades.
Federal data the scale of the problem. The U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security reporting system logged more than 12,000 reported forcible sex offenses on college campuses in 2022, the most recent year with complete national figures. Advocates note that reporting rates remain low, meaning actual incidents are likely far higher.
Critics of outright bans argue that eliminating fraternities pushes parties and social gatherings underground, where oversight is weaker. Others point to liability concerns: universities that recognize fraternities can face lawsuits under Title IX when assaults occur at chapter houses, while unrecognized organizations fall outside that framework.
Specter wrote that her own experience at Kenyon shifted from attending frat parties as a freshman to avoiding them by junior year, a change she attributed directly to her work on the misconduct hotline. She called on administrators to stop treating Greek life as an untouchable campus tradition.
The RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached 24 hours a day at 1-800-656-4673.
