The sorority recruitment process at the University of Alabama, informally known as Bama, rose to fame on TikTok with the hashtag #BamaRush after launching in 2021. Viral videos under #BamaRush include Get Ready With Mes, outfit checks and dance videos. The sorority members appear predominantly white and wealthy: Eighty-nine percent of students who participated in rushing for the sororities under the Alabama Panhellenic Association, which governs all the national sororities at Bama, were white in 2021. Though there is a long historical tradition of sororities exclusively for students of color, the social media prevalence of predominantly white sororities can impact how many students view sororities.
“Race, wealth and physical appearance are the main three things that are very big in sorority culture,” Emily Lau, Lowell High School ‘26, said in an interview with The Urban Legend. “When you look closely, you realize there is no diversity. Almost all of them are blonde and white.”
According to the book Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices by Anol Bhattacherjee, many Southern sororities are rooted in racial and class-based exclusivity. It was not until 2003 that Carla Ferguson became the first Black woman to join Gamma Phi Beta, a traditionally white sorority at the University of Alabama.
Some Urban students acknowledge the longstanding culture of exclusivity within southern sororities. “It’s more intense the more southern you go, where Greek life originated. Places where these old roots of slavery, racism, sexism and old gender roles were heavily present,” Olivia Argosino-Comer ‘26 said. “I think those ideas are instilled in a lot of those sororities and are at the root of those houses and chapters.”
Racism in sorority culture impacts both current and aspiring sorority members. Influencer Nina Cromer (@ninabobeenanina), a woman of color who attended the University of Alabama, reflected on TikTok about her experience in the sorority Delta Gamma. “[The] secret handshake to get into elections or important meetings [at Delta Gamma] was a handshake used in [the] movie, [BlackKkKlansman] portraying … men trying to get into Ku Klux Klan meetings,” Cromer said in a TikTok.
“As a kid, I always viewed sororities as something I was going to be a part of [one day],” Argosino-Comer said. “But now, through social media and seeing representation of only a certain class and race, it makes me feel less able to join. It makes me think about if this is even a culture I’d want to be a part of anymore.”
“If I end up going to a school like [the] University of Alabama or [the] University of Miami, lord knows whether I’m going to get in [to a sorority],” Lau said. “I’m not blonde; I have black hair. I’m tan, but I’m not their kind of tan — I’m Asian tan. I don’t have the same features as [white girls]. I don’t fit in with their ideal image.”
Students also consider how joining sororities may impact their sense of self. “[I] think I would probably end up losing myself a little bit in trying to assimilate and be liked by these other girls because it’s a really white culture,” Argosino-Comer said.
Ella Chen ‘24 — a Tri Delta member and student at the University of California, Berkeley — spoke about her experience with being in a sorority. “If I went to a big southern school, like ‘Bama, I wouldn’t want to rush there, because I wouldn’t want to be one of two people of color in a sorority,” said Chen. “As someone who’s mixed, I would only want to [rush] at a place where there is diversity, which I have at Berkeley.”
Some colleges are trying to change the racism and classism embedded in sorority culture. “I’ve really appreciated that my sorority has committees dedicated to having personal conversations with [all members] about financial or diversity and equity concerns,” Chen said. “[They] make themselves very available and easy to talk to when you do have concerns, and you know that they actually will be addressed, … [making] it as inclusive as it can be for all members.”
Chen added that reflecting on one’s feelings during rush can help determine if a sorority is the right fit where students can find a space to be themselves. “When rushing, [if] you are in an environment where you don’t feel seen and heard then don’t put yourself in that space, because you deserve to feel included,” Chen said.
