Alabama Rush TikTok

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About

Alabama Rush TikTok or Bama Rush TikTok refers to numerous viral videos uploaded to TikTok during the University of Alabama's rush week under the hashtags "#bamarush" and "#alabamarush" in August 2021. The videos largely consist of outfit of the day (OOTD) showcases, as well as videos of sorority cheers, lip dubs about sorority life and various rush activities. Many TikToekrs also took the opportunity to mock the event, creating parody videos in these styles.

Origin

On August 7th, 2021, rush week began at the University of Alabama, a week in which sororities recruit new members.^[1] Around that time, TikTokers began uploaded videos of themselves preparing for rush week. The earliest known relevant video was uploaded on August 8th by TikToker^[2] @whatwouldjimmybuffettdo, who posted an OOTD video showing off her outfit for the first day of rush week, gaining over 900,000 views in a week (shown below).

Spread

Over the course of the week, a number of videos were uploaded to the hashtags "#bamarush" and "#alabamarush," many going viral on the platform. On August 8th, 2021, TikToker @hannahdubb posted a video showing off a rush outfit, gaining over 1.1 million views in a week (shown below).

Other TikTokers began making videos asking why they were seeing rush content when it's irrelevant to them, as well as making jokes about the girls authentically making rush-related videos, and parodies of the videos (examples shown below, left and right).

On August 11th, TikToker^[5] @claraholleman posted a video joking about how every girl at rush week looks the same, showing a large number of blonde girls at the event, gaining over 1.7 million views in two days (shown below, left).On the same day, Reckon South^[3] published a piece on the trend. On August 12th, TikToker^[6] @madisonhamblin80 posted a video showing off various rush outfits on "Spice Girls day," gaining over 1.8 million views in a day (shown below, right). As of August 13th, these are the two most popular videos under the hashtag "#bamarush."

Some TikTokers became notably invested in the going on during Bama Rush, following and cheering on specific rush attendees and hoping they get certain "bids" for sororities they want. For example, on August 12th, TikToker^[7] @gregtoks posted a video showing a number of Bama Rush regular posters captioned, "I am praying Hannah Grace makes Phi Mu," gaining over 668,000 views in a day (shown below).

On August 13th, 2021, NBC News^[4] reported on the trend.

Segregation Controversy

A 2013 article by The Crimson White^[8], a student-run publication of the University of Alabama, broke a story about Alabama sororities being blocked from allowing stellar Black women from rushing by alumnae and senior advisors. In the weeks proceeding this news, emergency meetings held between the University's President Judy Bonner and sorority-chapter advisers led to bids being re-extended to the Black women noted to have been barred in the aforementioned Crimson White article.

A co-author of The Crimson White article posted a TikTok^[9] explaining the contents of the article, as well as providing more context for its subsequent impact. It gathered over 30,000 views and 4,000 likes as of August 2022.

As #BamaRush continues to trend in 2022, more TikTokers are making note of the school's controversial history of racial segregation. Moreover, more black women are being featured and going viral in rush videos.