I went through 'Bama Rush' 24 years ago: Here's what has changed | THE MOM STOP

When the #BamaRush hashtag went viral in August 2021 on TikTok, I was somewhat oblivious, since I don’t really use the social media platform.

However, when everyone else in the media world, including The New York Times, took notice and started covering University of Alabama students going through fall sorority recruitment, I couldn’t help but fall into the rabbit hole of video clips of the students showing off their “outfits of the day,” detailing where they bought everything from their earrings to their shoes.

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And while I quickly got sucked into the easy-to-watch drama of what girls were wearing to where they were going for ice water teas, or whether another girl was invited back to her top sorority for pref night — I have to admit, I had one main thought as millions of people watched girls on TikTok go through rush at UA in both 2021 and 2022: Thank goodness it wasn’t like that when I went through rush.

Yet another reason I’m glad there was no social media when I was in college.

I went through sorority recruitment at UA in 1999, along with about 700 other girls. That, too, is a drastic change from today’s rush, since more than 2,500 went through recruitment in 2022. Twenty-four years ago, we had 42 girls in my pledge class, which was the top number of girls that could be in a class at that time. Today, that number is more than 150 young women in a pledge class, which is about the same size or larger than most Panhellenic sororities at Alabama in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

There are other, noticeable differences. The University of Alabama was less than half its size at about only 18,000 students in 1999, rather than the 38,000-plus students enrolled today. And, while the majority of students at the Capstone were from Alabama in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the majority — around 58% — now come from out of state.

It’s hard to compare the college experience I had, when even UA itself has changed so drastically in the two decades.

But there are some things I am grateful for. I was a freshman who, while being from Alabama, didn’t know that many people at UA. It was a place so unlike than anything I had experienced, and the giant pillared buildings, sorority mansions and expansive Quad were a few of the things that drew me to Tuscaloosa. But when it came to sorority recruitment, I was clueless. My mother had been in a sorority in the 1970s, but not at UA.

A family friend who I baby-sat for organized my recommendation letters for each sorority. My mom bought me a few new dresses and after my parents helped move me into Tutwiler Hall, I started rush.

Other than knowing of the sorority I was a “legacy” to, I was clueless about the Greek system. I didn’t have high expectations or hopes pinned on any particular house because I didn’t know any difference. I went in with the hopes of finding a fit — a place I felt at home — and that was it. I distinctly remember asking, after I pledged a sorority on Bid Day what “Old Row” was. Someone in my pledge class laughed and told me I was “in it.”

I just had no idea. And for that, I am thankful. For with all the TikTok videos, the pressure to be perfect or wear just the right outfit — I can’t imagine the stress today’s potential new members go through.

HBO Max released a documentary last week, focused on UA’s sorority recruitment. While I did watch it and was underwhelmed by the film, it still made me glad. Glad that I had such a positive experience being “Greek” at UA — and thankful that the sorority recruitment process of my college years was so different from that of today.

I can only imagine what it might be like in a few more years when my daughter is in college.

Lydia Seabol Avant writes The Mom Stop for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at momstopcolumn@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Max documentary proves this isn't your mom's Bama Rush | THE MOM STOP