Never said other things aren’t exclusionary, this is a thread about Greek Life…I merely pointed out that some students when looking for schools prefer ones with no Greek Life.
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Yes, you are right. Many students exclude Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, Hopkins and Stanford because they have Greek life.
It was quite entertaining as a nerdy engineering student to have a roommate in one of UT’s top sororities. It seemed like a gigantic waste of time from my vantage point.
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So just FYI; at bama, there is a 95% acceptance rate for girls who rush. Pretty much every girl is guaranteed to join a house, (some may not be wealthy/cool as others) but there’s a very good chance of joining a greek house. I doubt that will be mentioned on the documentary.
With Bama being a very open admissions school, it’s very different in terms of exclusionary than say colleges with 5% acceptance rates.
with that in mind; my d23 isnt going to bama after thinking that’s where she’d be all senior year, and I’m sort of glad we dodged a bullet with this. much much more of a soccer mom here!
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“But I can also see how this school wouldn’t be a fit for several kinds of students.”
This, my friend, can be said about every school in America.
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That’s a better acceptance rate than another big Southern school that rejected 20% last year… as discussed in another thread.
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Probably also because the sorority system at Alabama displays some of the more extreme stereotypes of sororities (and it was even more so before 2013, which is not that long ago). A college with a sorority system with less stereotypical behavior would not be as good a subject for a movie in terms of attracting attention and viewers.
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As I poked around reading a little about “The Machine”, it is (or formerly was) a chapter of the Skull and Bones society.
I’m interested in learning about the whole southern greek life thing in general. Although it doesn’t appeal to me at all personally, I like to learn about what makes other people tick. I can’t imagine wanting to pledge, so I look forward to hearing the perspectives of the students who do. My kid is headed to a school with a big greek party life and I imagine it will peripherally affect him.
I’m also interested in the larger social and political powers that are rumored to be connected to these organizations. I’m sure it varies widely by school, and this will be somewhat Alabama-specific. It seems wild to me that “The Machine” could strongly influence non-university life in Tuscaloosa, and I look forward to learning more about it. But certain official or unofficial groups hold sway over society and politics in every community, and the details just differ by community.
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My D was in a sorority at Bama, graduated 2022 but left her chapter midway through junior year - just grew out of it and all the silliness and rules (which are not only Bama specific). She was also very uncomfortable about the issues of race and class - NOT from her current sorority sisters, but mainly from HQ and older advisors/alum.
She went through rush, which surprised me, because she wanted to participate in the ‘big thing’ on campus and see what it was like - and to meet people. She went in expecting to be laughing at people (and she did) but she also met lots of nice, normal girls who wanted to do well academically… and that was the house she joined. A lot of people rush, join and drop out - more than stay the distance.
All I will say: whilst there are a considerable number of Bama sorority girls who are similar to those in the film (and think its normal), there are a LARGER number who are very definitely NOT like this! But they are not on social media very much, nor would want to be.
And of course, all of those (majority) not in traditional white Greek life.
But of course, the regular, bus taking, non designer clothes wearing, library inhabiting, club sport playing, part time job holding person isn’t that interesting to a TV producer hunting for ratings!
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and
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Hmmm, wasn’t part of the response to the 2013 sorority segregation scandal to get the (sometimes racist) alumni out of the sorority recruitment and selection process? Based on the above, it seems like those racist alumni are still trying to influence the sororities in a negative way.
I also think it is because Alabama is a huge, very successful football school and has been a punch line for all things stereotypically southern. This documentary would not get the traction if it had been an expose’ on Washington and Lee or some other smaller school with greek life. I do find it disappointing that The University of Alabama and powers that be do not spend more time combating the stereotypes. There are lots of students who go on to do really interesting and important things…
Did Alabma give their permission for this? If I was a school adminstrator seeking top academic students, I would not be promoting this narrative.
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I am sure they did not.
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My niece also dropped out of her sorority (at Southwestern University in Texas) during her junior year. Sounds similar to your daughter.
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Sex sells. Beautiful young women in skimpy outfits sells. No news there.
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I’m sure they were chosen due to their sports prominence. They are a known brand.
There are many polls which rate the hottest girls and Ole Miss is usually at the top.
But they don’t have the brand name that Bana does.
Amazing to me how many are swayed by a long tv commercial. But you can be assured there will be strong ratings, tawdry follow ups, and horrified parents thinking their daughters are getting around.
And now the Real Wives will have some future talent to pick from in the future. Right after The Bachelor gets these girls married off.
I saw a figure that only 9% of potential pledges at Alabama identify as a person of color. I think ~78% of their undergrads are white, with black students alone comprising 11%. So non-white students are disproportionately not seeking greek membership. I’d also like to know if they are ultimately accepted into houses at the same rate as white students.
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