Southern sorority rush is around the corner and aspiring Panhellenic students are getting ready to run from house to house in the scorching summer heat.
"RushTok" is all the rage as organizations record the five-day event. I went to Florida State University, where rush videos all began. Delta Gamma's "Bid Day" video to Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" went viral on YouTube back in 2013.
I was in a house one year later and went through the entire process. While it's different at every school, I can attest to the scary accuracy that these content creators are publishing to the hashtag.
New Members Itinerary
At FSU, there was a group of women called Rho Gammas. They brought about 15-20 women around sorority row. The first day is guided, and then you fend for yourself.
Each day is different, and the days get more intense over the course of the week. From general interviews to learning about their charities to then getting a sneak peek at their rituals, the idea is to create emotional attachment.
The Rho Gammas hand you bags of coffee filters to soak up your sweat, floss and oil pads. They mean business.
Throughout the week, houses don't call some ladies back, so groups get smaller and smaller, and you start to have your own list of homes to go to.
They give you limited time to get to each mansion, so you'll typically see women running in heels across the different streets. If you don't show up to a house, you are disqualified from recruitment.
Current Members Rush Attire
Every sorority typically has a "recruitment" chair. This person is in charge of what members wear each day and what the mansion will look like.
At the end of the school year, we got an email with our style guide. There were inspirational looks attached, as well as an Excel sheet with names on it for specific people to wear different colors.
[tiktok_embed https://www.tiktok.com/@ninastud/video/6997385516329078021?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1⟨=en expand=1 site_id=21132993 embed_desktop_width=605 embed_desktop_height=150 embed_mobile_width=375 embed_mobile_height=150]Some days we all wore the same shirt, different bottoms of the same color and a uniform heel. On other days, we were in a dress and were assigned a pastel shade for the chosen color scheme.
Sisters were advised to get a spray tan, and everything they wore had to be checked out by the chair before the doors opened for the day.
The Opening Of The Double Doors
Sorority mansions are a spectacle in and of themselves. Each one is unique, but one thing is almost always the same: the double doors and entryway staircase.
Essentially, rush is selling a "dream." It's the idea of being included with the "popular girls," which is a cause for the outfit checks and one of the most important parts, the presentation.
We didn't sit stacked on the floor and sing songs as some colleges do. We stand stacked on the staircase like sardines packed in a can. Three on a step, shoulder-to-shoulder, hands behind your back and smiling hard!
[tiktok_embed https://www.tiktok.com/@smudeltagamma/video/7053134968528227631?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1⟨=en expand=1 site_id=21132993 embed_desktop_width=605 embed_desktop_height=150 embed_mobile_width=375 embed_mobile_height=150]There's a flawless look, loud music playing and one member holding a tray of water.
Next, as the girls come up to the door, the sisters one-by-one go down the steps, making sure they move in unison.
It is a rule to stand with one hand behind your back and the other hand out towards the small of the woman's back, but making sure not to touch or the organization will receive a violation of policy for safety reasons.
The Interview
Each house member knows exactly who they are "rushing" before they walk through the door. Only, they pretend like they just met you.
When you start the interviews, it might be uncanny that every sister you meet likes and does the same things you like and do. It's pre-planned, not luck.
When you apply for rush, you fill out an application and write your interests. Sororities want you to fall in love with them, so they purposefully pair you with women who share common interests.
When the interview is over, the sisters have five minutes to write their notes about you, submit them to the chair, and then run back to the stairs.
Bid Day
The very last day is "bid day," or the day you choose and "run home" to your new sisters. It's usually a themed party that's thrown on the lawn with their Greek letters.
[tiktok_embed https://www.tiktok.com/@madelynpeta/video/7129181917768944942?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1⟨=en expand=1 site_id=21132993 embed_desktop_width=605 embed_desktop_height=150 embed_mobile_width=375 embed_mobile_height=150]This is the most consistent thing I've seen on TikTok, where people dress up in different outfits and sparkles and make endless videos. These are the days that everyone is chanting at their house, and women are hugging people they barely even know.
Though RushTok has a scandalous connotation behind it, it's an experience unlike any other. People are obsessed with looking at the videos, and those involved are obsessed with making them.
