Bama Rush: Inside University of Alabama’s wild and ‘cutthroat’ sorority recruitment process
“Bama Rush” reveals the intense measures younger ladies take to enter sorority life at the University of Alabama — a provocative social experiment some say is the blueprint for Greek life at campuses nationwide.
“It was definitely scary, but I felt it was important to be vulnerable and show other girls that they can open up and that they’re not alone in this,” Isabelle Eacrett, a 19-year-old Alabama student and sorority member featured within the movie, advised Fox News Digital.
The University of Alabama is the highest recruitment faculty within the nation, with potential sorority members going as far as to rent recruitment specialists to assist them get into sure homes.
Rush marketing consultant Trisha Addicks, who’s featured within the new HBO Max documentary, described the push process at Alabama as “cutthroat.”
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The University of Alabama is the highest recruitment faculty within the nation, with potential sorority members going as far as to rent recruitment specialists to assist them get into sure homes. (“Bama Rush”/ HBO Max)
“It’s just uniquely Alabama,” she mentioned.
Prospective new members (PNMs) undergo an intensive, four-round recruitment process, which incorporates interviews and social features, earlier than they select a sorority and vice versa. Some college students choose out of Greek life as a result of of the associated fee alone.
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The common annual price of speeding for brand spanking new sorority members at Alabama is greater than $8,000, in line with the documentary. Tuition for in-state college students is lower than $12,000 yearly, and about $30,000 yearly for out-of-state college students.
“It was definitely scary, but I felt it was important to be vulnerable and show other girls that they can open up and that they’re not alone in this,” Isabelle Eacrett, a 19-year-old Alabama scholar and sorority member, advised Fox News Digital. (“Bama Rush”/ HBO Max)
After all 4 rounds of the push process, PNMs who don’t match a sorority’s expectations could get “dropped,” which means they’ve to show to their second, third and even final selections.
The documentary, which options 4 college students’ “rush week” experiences, comes after “#Bamarush” movies went viral on TikTok final 12 months as college students posted movies of their outfits and “rush” recommendation that generated billions of views on the video-sharing app.
However, Eacrett says the movie is about greater than what college students painting on TikTok. “I believe sorority life is more than what people think. … It has less to do with outfits and appearances and more so to do with your journey as a person.”
“A lot of people don’t recognize how smart these girls are and how important academics are in Greek life, especially in the South. It has a lot to do with your acts of service, philanthropy and sisterhood, obviously.”
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The documentary additionally highlights an air of thriller and custom surrounding Alabama’s Greek life system. A “secret” society made up of sure sororities and fraternities on campus referred to as The Machine, for instance, apparently controls high-level choices on the some-38,000-student faculty.
Some ladies featured within the movie talk about a scarcity of individuality within the rush process, saying PNMs ought to stand out, however solely to an extent. They must be distinctive however not completely completely different from the opposite ladies they’re in search of to affix.
The documentary highlights an air of thriller and custom surrounding Alabama’s Greek life system. (“Bama Rush”/ HBO Max)
Author Elizabeth Boyd described the process as “a proving ground of competitive femininity and the contemporary performance of the Southern belle.”
One scholar featured within the documentary, Shelby Rose, stopped filming with HBO midway by. She mentioned HBO approached her when she was a senior in highschool coming into her freshman 12 months at Alabama, and she thought the documentary was going to be completely different from what it in the end ended up turning into.
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“I love every single sorority at UA, and I have nothing but positive things to say about the campus and the sororities,” she mentioned in a TikTok explaining her resolution to cease filming. “So, since I did stop filming, like, right before rush week, and I feel as blindsided and confused as everybody else. … I do not agree with any of the negative things said about the University of Alabama, campus as a whole and the UA Panhellenic Association.”
She mentioned she has “lost trust” within the movie’s creators as a result of “it was portrayed in a very different way” to her when she signed on to be featured in it.
Eacrett, in the meantime, says she was proud of how the documentary turned out.
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“A lot of people didn’t understand what the documentary was going to be. I think people expected it to be some exposé or exposing secrets of sorority life, and if anyone hasn’t seen the documentary, I encourage them to delve in with the idea that this is more than that,” she mentioned. “This is stories of young women, and I hope people gain insight on what it’s really like to be a young woman in our age, with social media, with pressure coming from all directions.”
She added that she thinks “a lot of people wanted was some hard-hitting piece on the secrets.” What they received as a substitute was a film meant to “uplift girls and to show what they’re really going through.”