Binge drinking and excessive alcohol consumption is one the most serious public health issues confronting college campuses. There is evidence that the college environment may foster excessive alcohol consumption and abuse. In order to more closely probe environmental factors leading to excessive alcohol consumption, the authors compared the alcohol consumption of college-aged males and females in two environments: a fraternity party and a private (non-fraternity) party. A total of 1,525 students (502 women and 1,023 men) who were in attendance at 19 parties (11 fraternity parties and 8 private parties) had their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels assessed with a hand-held breathalyzer. Results indicated that the students at fraternity parties were significantly more intoxicated (mean BAC = .093) than the students at private parties (mean BAC = .082). Furthermore, the men were more intoxicated (mean BAC = .093) than the women (mean BAC = .080). However, no main effect was found for Greek-life status, indicating that the fraternity environment, rather than fraternity membership, is the key factor affecting excessive alcohol consumption. These results are consistent with the assumption that parties hosted by fraternity groups set the stage for the highest level of intoxication found on college campuses. Limitations of the study include its limited sample size. Tables, references