CHICAGO – Move over college football: there’s another Southern tradition making headlines, stealing screens and racking up millions of views: Bama Rush.
What started as a niche sorority recruitment tradition at the University of Alabama has exploded into a national social media phenomenon, fueled by sparkle, Southern charm and some serious digital hustle.
And nobody breaks it down quite like Brandis Bradley, a self-proclaimed “senior Bama Rush correspondent” and TikTok icon with a heart as big as her hair.
What is Bama Rush?
What we know:
Bama Rush, short for sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama, gained viral momentum about five years ago on TikTok.
Each fall, hundreds of young women document their journey through recruitment, showcasing their “OOTD” (Outfit of the Day), emotional ups and downs and the highly anticipated “bid day” when they receive an invitation to join a sorority.
This isn’t just about Greek letters anymore: it’s about branding. Going viral during Rush Week can catapult a freshman into influencer territory overnight. The stakes are high, and the ring lights are on.
But as glamorous as it seems, Rush can be emotionally intense. With 19 sororities at Alabama, most girls are cut from most of them before receiving a single bid. That kind of rejection can sting, especially for 18-year-olds just learning who they are.
Bradley isn’t just a commentator; she’s a cheerleader.
“Here’s the thing, everybody thinks you have to have a lot of money to make it on sorority row. Money doesn’t hurt. I ain’t gonna lie. But the most powerful currency during rush week is confidence. That’s what I like to use my platform for. I want to give these girls confidence so they can walk into these sorority houses, be the best version of themselves and so that they’re ready to deal with the rejection, because rejection isn’t inevitable,” said Bradley.
She added that sorority culture, often misunderstood and portrayed negatively, is evolving.
A Sorority’s Mom’s Guide to Rush
The backstory:
Now, the spectacle of Rush has found its way to Lifetime.
The network just launched “A Sorority’s Mom’s Guide to Rush”, a docu-style reality series Bradley proudly appears in.
“This is the most fair and accurate depiction of sorority recruitment that we have ever seen in media,” said Bradley. “We haven’t seen a lot of this process in media, it’s always been elusive and mysterious. And I feel like we’re pulling the lid off here and giving everybody a behind-the-scenes take because there’s a lot of people who go through Greek life, but there’s whole lot more who have no idea what Greek life is or how it works. This is a crash course.”
For Bradley, who lost her mother in 2022, the show is deeply personal.
“I was a mommy’s girl. I lost my mommy in 2022, and I’m watching our episodes, and I am like this is going to be such a gift for these girls and for these mothers,” said Bradley. “Twenty years down the road, they are going to look back on this footage of them interacting with their mothers and I just what more precious gift can you give a mother and a daughter than to have this video footage of their relationship that they can always hang on to.”
Who to Watch
What we know:
If you’re wondering where to get your daily dose of Rush Talk, Bradley recommends following:
- Kylan & Izzy Darnell
- Kaden Kilpatrick
- Nina Beauty Influencer
- College of Charleston ADPis
And if you’re new to the scene? Just start scrolling.
“So look up whatever your alma mater is, whatever the college is in your state or hometown, go look up and see if they have sorority posting content and just start interacting with all that content and your FYP is going to take care of it for you. It’s going to serve you all the content you possibly need,” said Bradley.
The Source: The information in this article is from an interview with Brandis Bradley on ChicagoNOW.
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