In the past two years, the longtime occurrence of sorority rush has blown up on social media. Specifically, on Tik Tok, girls taking part in the week-long process of rush have risen to fame. Posting outfits of the days, what’s in my sorority rush bag and bid day videos. People all over the world have become invested in the lives of these girls. Taking over a majority of the videos are the girls at the University of Alabama.
With cute southern accents and intricate outfits, Alabama’s prospective new members (PNMs) have gone viral. Their frequent occurrence among people’s For You Page on Tik Tok has awarded them the name of “RushTok,” becoming a popular hashtag and saying. Starting right at the beginning of August, For You Pages across the country were flooded with upbeat, colorful and promotional Bama Rush videos.
The existing sisters of each sorority who were participating in “Work Week” began posting Tik Toks of their sorority in order to increase “hype” around each house. During “Work Week” the houses prep and decorate for the busy week that follows, Rush Week. Schools across America begin their Rush Weeks around the same time including less popular schools such as the University of Arizona, a school that had previously not appeared on peoples’ For You Page. This year Tik Tok was not just consumed by Bama Rush but countless others.
However, Bama Rush continued to keep its fame as one PNM, Kylan Darnell, exploded in a matter of hours. A new freshman at Alabama, Kylan began posting daily outfits of the day during Rush Week. Her daily mantra of “Have a Great Day Not a Good Day” has become just as popular as she has. Viewers from around the world invested themselves in her rush process. According to Narcity.com, people love Kylan for her “Disney-princess-like demeanor.” After many Tik Toks, viewers were ecstatic to find out that Kylan went Zeta Tau Alpha on Bid Day!
Considering the amount of publicity Alabama Rush has received in the past couple of years, it comes as no surprise that TV stations such as HBO Max and Vice Studios want to document it. Variety claims that “the full-fledged film directed by Rachael Fleit is currently being filmed in Tuscaloosa, AL.” The documentary wants to “explore college life, sisterhood, and all the joys and complexities of what it means to be a young woman today, following several women from the University of Alabama,” says The New York Times.
Since the announcement of a potential documentary, rumors of hidden microphones and secret cameras have been spreading amongst the sorority houses at Alabama. With these rumors, it also seems that the University of Alabama themselves “did not know that this production was occurring,” says Seventeen. So, the release date and further details surrounding this documentary remain unanswered. Despite this recent chaos, people everywhere are still obsessing over “RushTok” and with it having just come to an end, the media already yearns for more.