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How Fraternities Came To Be So Dangerous And Powerful

caption: Greek Row at the University of Washington.
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Greek Row at the University of Washington.

Steve Scher talks with journalist Caitlin Flanagan about her Atlantic Magazine cover story, "The Dark Power of Fraternities."

Flanagan said the fraternity industry is the largest provider of alcohol to underage drinkers in the United States outside of family members.

“The reason for that is ever since the mid-1980s when we had legislation that made 21 the uniform drinking age, that pushed all the drinking out of places on campus where it was supervised by the authorities of the campus with ID checks," she said. "And the place it largely pushed it, as far as formal, organized, reliably-held parties, was in the fraternity houses."

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