There are certainly some positive aspects to sorority membership for many women. However, I think you are correct that the drawbacks/risks for a very young college student (and I suspect that her age might be a concern for those making rush decisions) who has a severe food allergy at a campus that has seen rape cases linked to their Greek system are reason to argue against membership.
Does the system require living in the house? If so, she would run into an issue in her second year, not being of legal age to live alone, it seems.
I would echo what others have suggested, that a service-based (non-Panhellenic) or professional sorority might be a better fit that would provide many of the same benefits. I believe there are now a few STEM-related professional sororities, one or more of which may be at her campus. Check out
http://www.professionalfraternity.org/... although there are others that don't belong to this umbrella group.
