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Why colleges tolerate fraternities

The history of frats reveals why they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Why are they around?
Phil Edwards is a senior producer for the Vox video team.

Fraternities (and sororities) are inseparable from college life. Why?

The video above explores the history of frats and how they managed to infiltrate college life despite a 150-year reputation as havens for heavy drinking, raucous parties, and even endangerment of students.

Their history has surprising twists and turns, like anti-fraternity laws that nearly pushed Greek life off campus. The story of their return shows the uniquely cooperative relationship between college administrators and the frats they discipline.

You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. Subscribe for more episodes.