Alabama Rush TikTok and Its Toxicity

If you were on TikTok at all during the month of August, your feed was most likely infiltrated by “Alabama Rush TikTok.” The investment into what sorority these college girls would end up joining spread across the world, to the point where many of the individuals invested in “rush week,” are not even of college-age. 

This year, The University of Alabama had over 2,500 students rushing for a chance to receive a bid from their favorite sorority. Many of these girls or PNM’s, potential new members, made the hashtag #BamaRush viral on TikTok after showing the outfits that they planned to wear for different recruitment days during the rush week. Outfits would range from panhellenic t-shirts and Lululemon skirts on philanthropy days to formal cocktail dresses on sisterhood days.

For many, it is captivating to see how much effort and attention these girls put in to impress the sorority sisters at the different houses, specifically schools in the North East that do not have the same Greek life culture. Watching these girls have the opportunity to rush sororities in person once again can be exciting to see as COVID-19 restrictions forced the nation to hold recruitment virtually this past year. 

However, underneath the Kendra Scott jewelry and sorority girl-worthy clothing from The Pants store, is the negative history behind Alabama Greek life. One popular Alabama rush story that cracked open this shell had to do with TikTok user @whatwouldjimmybuffetdo, also known as Makayla, who was dropped from every sorority she rushed.

Makayla quickly garnered a multitude of fans, especially after it was revealed that she was biracial; being one of the few women of color seen on the app rushing this year. Just like the other girls, she posted “outfit of the day” videos and rush week TikTok videos, until it was revealed that she was dropped due to a video that was dug up of her supposedly underage drinking. Even though Makayla came forward and stated that she was, in fact, not drinking, she was still dropped from every sorority, meaning she would receive no bids to join any of them. 

While this may seem like an individual issue, Alabama Greek life has a notoriously racist past. According to NPR, it was not until 2013 that Alabama sororities were desegregated, meaning black students were unable to rush. 

Alumni from many southern universities have stated that many top-tier sororities already know from the beginning what girls they are going to give a bid to, as well as who they want in based on “the look” they want for their sorority. 

In one TikTok in particular, TikTok user Cedoni Francis stated, “The top houses know who they want before anyone walks in their doors, because these are the girls who people have gone to summer camp with, these are the girls that people have rode horses with their entire life, these are the girls you go to high school with. Elitism breeds elitism.”

While it is fun to see girls running down Sorority Row to their “new homes,” the toxicity of Greek life remains prevalent in rush culture.

TikTok is a platform that generates trends and stories like wildfire. Now, the stories that lay underneath the pearly, white mansions, are beginning to rise above the surface.

A quick BamaRush search on TikTok leads to hundreds of videos surrounding the experience. Source: Amanda Dibre '23