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It is a matter of legal realities.
The real fact of the matter is that a given fraternity chapter operating on a given piece of land- usually owned by a Housing Corporation associated with that chapter- will have the direct control over, and responsibility for, an incident that could result in a lawsuit.
But the reality is that a civil suit will typically be filed against the chapter, the University/College where it happened and the national headquarters of the fraternity.
And legal precedent shows that such organizations, especially national HQs of Greek organizations, will be held legally liable.
The theory is that nationals are supposed to set the tone for local organizations and how they are run.
The reality is that this is the "deep pockets" principle. In other words, if you want big money in a civil suit, you sue the groups that have the money and can afford to pay a judgment. And naturally, GLO HQs and Universities will tend to have more money than a local chapter.
HQ assessments for insurance are on the rise because of this. It is common for a chapter to have to pay insurance fees per active/pledge each year to nationals that equal or exceed annual active member dues.
I am not sure what exclusions exist at the national HQ level for an insurance claim, but considering the overall premium paid via annual assessments to chapters it would appear these policies cover all bases regardless of the actual cause of the incident.
Is it fair in the grand scheme of things? Not really. But it is reality, and we have to deal with it.
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