Before COVID-19 the recruitment process was more old school.
“Overall, my rush experience was really positive, I became friends with some people in my rho chi group, but everything was very old-fashioned. We would get there, and our schedules were on the back of our nametag and then we would go vote in the computer labs in the old tut. I got to go to every single house because that’s when we still had an open house, and it was super fun because I had never experienced SEC sorority life and it was super fun and interesting,” Jacqueline Jessop, PC’19 said.
Now everything is done digitally, and the potential new members and houses watch videos about each other, and rank based on that for the open house round.
Social media now plays a more prevalent role in the recruitment process for many potential new members.
“I would say social media had a small role in my rush process. Alpha Phi reached out to me on Instagram before the rush and a lot of their girls followed and DM’d me beforehand. I was definitely interested in them because of that, but I kept an open mind the whole time going through,” Ansli Brown, PC’23 said.
Before Tik Tok outfits were found through the Greek Chic or GroupMe.
“Since this was before any social media blew up, I was in a Bama rush GroupMe, and I referenced the Greek Chic a lot, but I just went out to department stores and found dresses I liked. A benefit of this was seeing more different dresses, whereas now a lot of the same dresses are worn. Another difference was there were a lot more Lily Pulitzer and Tory Burch sandals back then.”
Due to Tik Tok a more ‘southern’ style was expected by the potential new members.
“I found outfits actually when I came down to visit the University of Alabama before rush started. I went to all the boutiques in the area and found the ones I felt best represented my style going into rush. I did get a few online but mostly all my dresses came from boutiques here,” Brown said.
Overall, both girls had a positive recruitment experience, but focused on different aspects of recruitment more. The pressure and standards that come from social media have more of an impact now, more than ever.
