Insights from #BamaRushTok
Eleven years ago, I went through Panhellenic recruitment at the University of Alabama and this last month, #BamaRushTok took us all by storm and reminded me that the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Multiple things can exist at once—the world is not black and white and #BamaRushTok provoked a spectrum of reactions from the digital world. In true iGen fashion, Alabama women provided access to the typically hidden world of Panhellenic recruitment. In doing so, these women opened their world for people to enjoy, learn, judge, and comment upon. You can view this time as an obstacle OR as an opportunity to rethink recruitment in ways that are more equitable—across race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexuality, and more.
The overwhelming number of “I don’t know if anyone else’s fyp is all #BamaRushTok but…” posts I’ve had the pleasure of giggling at last month have sparked joy as we entered the new school year. They provided a moment of levity in a potentially stressful time and gave us some inspiration (#ootd and otherwise) as we head into Fall. It behooves us to take a moment to appreciate the conversation starters we’ve seen from this social media takeover. Here are our top 10 takeaways from #BamaRushTok:
Go get your money, Gal.
Women are influencing one another day in and day out and I, for one, love that this brilliant group of iGen women are finding a way to make money off the common, “where’d you get that” question and answer. Marketing isn’t free and women getting compensated for this work is powerful, especially in a world where women make 84% of what men make. Since Alabama Panhellenic primary recruitment has ended, many of these women have created Cameo accounts and continued to be financially compensated for work. Other collegians are following these women and care what they have to say; maybe Headquarters teams and volunteers can capitalize on this. Imagine if, to increase attendance or engagement at your next conference, you used these influencers to inspire confidence? What if you hired your newest member to help you promote a new initiative or legislation you’re working to get passed?
Women should have fun.
#BamaRushTok was FUN. It was silly. It was funny. It was women having a grand old time. And, as Glennon Doyle discusses in her podcast, this can be really hard for women. Girls especially may withdraw from their ability to do so at a younger age, so I’m proud that these Bama gals are having said FUN.
Collegiate women have power.
No one made this point better than Abbey Crain, so I’m going to link her article here. Take a break from this article and go read Abbey’s powerful piece on how collegiate Panhellenic women at Alabama have owned their power and shifted culture over the last decade.
Recruitment builds resilience.
Panhellenic recruitment is not easy. No matter the campus, there are dynamics that can be stressful, disappointing, and sometimes heartbreaking. Panhellenic recruitment at Alabama taught me lessons that have carried me well into my life and we got to see this generation experience that live, in real-time on TikTok. We saw women express disappointment, fear, excitement, and confidence. We saw the depth of these women even in the way they shared their outfits. The women in this process are learning how to bounce back from disappointment as they head into their next round, make the best of a potentially disappointing invite list, and go with the flow as weather and bus schedules create the need for last-minute schedule changes and adjustments.
There are consequences for your actions.
We saw a woman get released for unkind and problematic high school behavior AND we saw her acknowledge her mistakes at the same time. While I’d venture to bet she had coaching in her “TikTok Live” where she told everyone she understood why she was released and recognized she needed to take responsibility for her actions, this was a powerful moment for multiple reasons. She’s 18. She’s more than the worst thing she did as a high schooler. If she truly is learning from this experience, she will be a better human and she will grow and evolve and become a better woman. Accountability is hard and important.
Not everyone is going to like you (and that is okay).
I’ll never forget the time I walked into a house on “ice water teas” day and sat down with the woman who was supposed to be talking to me and she just flat out ignored me. This wasn’t uncommon from what has been shared by others who rushed at the same time as me. Now, this wasn’t okay. I’m not advocating for this type of treatment. HOWEVER, it did teach me that I’m not going to be for everyone. Not everyone is going to like me. It made me comfortable with not being liked or appreciated and made me more confident to just be me throughout the process. This was the biggest success for me as a student heading into college. I feel like we saw this ten-fold with our women on TikTok.
Sorority teaches life skills.
Y’all. This TikTok destroyed me. Do you know how many companies would kill to hire a young professional who has experience managing a 2-million-dollar budget? Do you know how impressive it is that a 19-year-old manages this budget WHILE attending classes, working a part-time job, and finding time to have fun, not to mention the fact that she is ensuring collections for 440 of her peers? It’s an incredible feat and should be treated as such, in the job market and on campus. What if we leveraged these experiences for college credit? What if colleges and universities identified these opportunities as ways to provide real internship and class credit? We may be able to address the gap Gallup has identified as new professionals enter the workforce.
Social media is not all bad.
TikTok pulled the curtain back on the secrecy and let the world see the “hidden” side of Panhellenic recruitment. This increased transparency is good for the Panhellenic sorority experience. The more we’re upfront about what’s really going on, the more we’re able to address the dynamics that are not okay. Collegiate women at the University of Alabama had to expose the de facto racism that existed in the Panhellenic recruitment process before they could begin to fix it. Much of the membership selection problems our chapters experience were exposed via TikTok this year and now we get to address those. We get to rethink how we talk about women when we’re voting on whether to invite them to join our organizations. We get to encourage difficult conversations that don’t center on petty high school drama but truly evaluate whether someone would leave our organization better than they found it. We get to be more inclusive and equitable and that’s powerful.
Things are different.
The Panhellenic sorority experience is not what it was when I was in college; it’s not the same as when my mom was in college. Outside of the cheeky posts of “this is me on philanthropy day and this is my chapter now,” the game has changed. Social media is how this generation is engaging and selling the experience. As alumnae, headquarters staff, and international volunteers, it is our job to embrace this shift and learn how to help our chapters engage with it in a way that fulfills our values proposition. When I say values proposition, I don’t mean asking whether the Mama Mia dance is representative of our value of Honor & Respect. I mean considering whether our online presence reflects what we offer as an organization and community. In a world where women are given messaging about needing men and alcohol to survive, it’s impressive that our sororities are time and time again selling the experience with fun and friendship without those things. A lot could change about the Panhellenic recruitment experience, but our ability to by and large keep alcohol and men out of the experience is powerful.
There is still work to be done.
I am not negating everything I reflected on above. Multiple things can exist at once—the world is not black and white. #BamaRushTok was homogenous. It was made up of mostly skinny, white, beautiful women who fit a certain stereotype for what a sorority woman is and isn’t representative of the actual population. This isn’t true across the board, but as the linked researcher points out, this is illustrative of a greater problem with the TikTok algorithm. Recruitment happening before school starts limits the participation of first-generation college students and first-generation fraternity/sorority potential new members (PNMs). This, and many more access issues need to be addressed in order to create more equity in the experience. There will always be work to do, which is why it is important all Panhellenic sorority women commit to aspiring to something greater.
Finals Thoughts
When I look at Panhellenic sorority social media, I have feedback. Absolutely there are ways we could evolve to be more representative of our chapters. Many of these women were mocked for their engagement with the #BamaRushTok experience. Accents and intelligence were teased in a way that was unkind and unfair (especially knowing the academic requirements that exist in order for many of these women to join these organizations). The problematic trope about southern intelligence was overplayed in response to #BamaRushTok and these women rose above it. They chose to ignore the haters and play to the people who were cheering them on.
As international organizations evaluate letters of recommendation and legacy policies, it’s valuable to acknowledge that the experience has evolved. This means two things: we have got to bring our alumnae along and we must acknowledge that the experience is different. As an alumna who has embraced the ways in which the experience has changed, it’s on me to try and show other alumnae why different isn’t bad or good; it’s just different. I understand why our alumnae, inter/national officers, and Headquarters teams are pushing back on new policies and ways of doing things. I understand why it’s scary that this process and experience they held dear are changing and it feels like a part of their experience is being taken away. I understand them mourning that loss. Doing so may be hard at first and could bring up difficult emotions like sadness and anger. This is temporary, and the discomfort and sadness will likely subside and result in a stronger, more genuine collegiate-alumnae bond. However, the cost of refusing to support these chapters and pushing back against these policies is significant and perpetuates a cycle of anger, disconnection, severed relationships, and overall negativity.
I take responsibility for having tough conversations that bring alumnae along. We must. We need to teach them what this new experience looks like because it’s a foreign language to them. In the same vein, I’m asking our alumnae to embrace the change. These Panhellenic sorority communities are and will continue to evolve. You may not like it to begin with. You may not understand it. You may say it wouldn’t work like that in your day. You could be right, but it’s working now. You can learn and evolve with our current communities, or you can be left behind. And, we don’t want to lose you.