Bama Rush (2023) Movie Script

1
[ Chanting in distance ]
Delta is the one for me!
[ Chanting ]
So I just have a couple
of thoughts regarding
this supposed HBO Max
documentary on Bama Rush.
Okay, you guys, we have
more tea coming through about,
is someone filming
Rush this year?
I have gotten a couple
of reports...
They haven't went up
against this college yet,
and I'm telling you,
you don't want to
go up against
the University of Alabama.
Not to be dramatic,
but this HBO special
could be the end of Greek life
as we know it.

[ Chanting in distance ]

[ Chanting ]
[ Overlapping chanting ]
- Hey, y'all.
- Hey, y'all.
Hey, welcome to day one
of Rush week.

We're getting ready to rush.
Like, look at the people
already starting to line up.

[ Screams ]

Love it!

Is anybody else way too old
and has too many kids
to be this invested in
Bama Rush TikTok?
Like, if Katie
does not get the Delta Zeta bid,
she is going to be devastated.
I've never smoked crystal meth,
but this is how I would imagine
one would feel on
a 72-hour crystal meth binge.
This is officially
becoming a problem.
This is me, two days after
watching Bama Rush Tok.
[ Chanting ]
Bama Rush sisterhood
day one OOTD.
Jewelry is from
Vivienne Westwood, Tiffany.
You know the vibes.
Blouse is from...
We did it. We did it, Joe.
I have been picking my outfits
since January. January.
And my shoes are Dolce Vita.
- These earrings from...
- Amazon.
[ Screams ]
I think I'm gonna be
different than everyone else.
Wish us luck. Roll Tide.
I'm gonna ask for y'all to
pray for me.

[ Crowd cheering ]

[ Screaming ]

They are doing the Lord's work.
I'm losing it!
Roll Tide.
[ Women breathing hard ]

[ Haunting music playing ]
Hi!
[ Muffled cheering ]



Got my little finger on it,
and I think
it's my acceptance thing,
but I don't really know...
Or acceptance or decline
or whatever it is.
[ Exhales deeply ]
Really scared.
I'm shaking really bad.
[ Paper tears ]
[ Gasps ]
[ Crying ]
Pretty emotional day
there when we got that, so...
[ Laughs ]
- Oh!
- Oh, my gosh!
[ Screams ]
[ Chuckles ]
Stops here.
Oh.
Those are all
my Alabama T-shirts,
so the obsession is real.
Gotta love it.
I've had these since, some of
them, like, freshman year.
I'm not even 100%
sure how she found it,
but once she found it,
she was in 100%.
She knew it's where
she wanted to be.
She's our first person
in the family
to do a full four-year college,
so excited for her
for that, too.
I can tell a million people
that I'll be going
to the University of Alabama,
and they'll be like,
"You're totally meant
to go there.
She's so bubbly
and outgoing, like,
she definitely needs to be
in a sorority."
Alabama hair ties.
Three people,
three different people
decided to give me these
for Christmas, 'cause they know.

Probably the part of my life
that I am most proud of
is my adoption story.
So I was adopted
at four days old,
and I started
a nonprofit organization
called Fostering Hope
where I help foster children
and foster families
in the state of Illinois,
and that's something
that I'm super proud of,
but that's just
a little bit about me.

Let's be honest,
I probably would not be going
to the University of Alabama
if it did not blow up on TikTok.
Just because I saw it so much,
so I looked into the school.
Being in a sorority
will kind of help me figure out
who I want to be,
help me be surrounded by people
that will always have my back,
no matter what.
I've always needed a thing
to be a part of, like,
as part of my identity.
It's been really hard
for me to find, like,
a sense of, like, you know,
self-worth
or, like, pride in something
because I feel like
I don't really know
who I am, you know?

[ Music playing from phone ]
Not like this.
I remember doing a tequila shot
with this DILF.
You had a fuckin' hard hat on.
- Ally?
- Yes?
I'm so sorry for
whatever I did last night.
- You actually weren't that bad.
- Was I not?
Okay, I actually
want to be president.
So I'm gonna, like,
work my way up
in the governmental system.
I think I'm gonna be, like,
a governmental lawyer,
like, something on that track.
I'm not, like, 100% sure
what I do to get there yet.
Can you tell us how many jobs
you're working right now?
I work at a nutrition shop,
so, like, Herbalife,
and then I also work
at a tanning salon.
Oh, my therapist also called me
a workaholic.
I was like, "Whatever, girl.
At least I work."
"Hayley..."
or for like, Miss USA,
if I, like, won Miss Alabama,
I'd be like, "Hayley Holliday,
Miss Alabama."
I did pageants
like at 18 months old.
Walking on the stage is the best
feeling in the whole wide world.
I get a high off of winning.
[ Chanting in background ]
We're walking to our retreat.
Oh, my gosh.
Look at our retreat.
I got into my sorority.
Like, I was living the dream.
This was, like,
everything I've ever wanted.
Like, I was, like, in the
sorority with my, like, sisters
and I had friends,
and then I wore
the wrong sorority sticker
and got dropped. [ Chuckles ]

- For wearing a sticker?
- Yes.
For wearing
another sorority sticker.

Like, I would rather a guy
tell me that I was ugly
than get dropped by a sorority.
[ Laughing ] I was so humbled.
I thought those people
were my very best friends.
Like, this was my home,
this was where I belonged.
And it does scare me going into,
like, next year's Rush.

- Oh.
- 'Sup?
Oh, probably 9:30
would be better.
What time are we waking up?
- Huh?
- I don't know.
I've actually been going to
class this week.
I'm actually in a really good
mood today.
Very rare for me.
I feel like I didn't rush
freshman year
because I need
to find my place here.
When I first moved here, like,
it was just all, like, too much.
But I do regret not rushing.
I did feel really left out.
When did you know you wanted
to be in criminal justice?
Well
when I was in high school,
I really wanted to be a coroner.
[ Laughing ]
I was very weird.
I got interested
in criminal justice
'cause my dad
was a police officer.
I was 13
when my dad passed away,
so I was in seventh grade.

Yeah.
He would be glad I'm here,
but I don't know about rushing.
He has always wanted to keep me
in a little bubble
and protect me.

Sororities really started along
with co-education.
In 1883, a professor at Harvard
wrote a book called
"Sex in Education."
The basis of his argument
is that if women studied,
then the blood would go to their
brains and not their ovaries,
and that they would shrivel up
and... and the women would die.

Imagine it's in this environment
that these women
are going to college,
and in the face of that,
they're coming together
to form these early sororities.
The emphasis was very much
on showing that women
could succeed
in higher education.
They were feminists in many ways
before that was a word.

And into the early 1910s,
more and more women
are coming to campus.
The first generation has proven
that they're successful.
In the second generation,
the sororities become
more focused on parties,
on socializing,
and on showing that they are
the best representatives
of true womanhood on campus.
The whole notion of Rush came
because they were rushing
to show themselves
as the best sororities on campus
to attract the best members.
They would meet the trains
that the new students
were taking to get to campus,
literally whisking them off
and trying to woo and win over
the best members
of the new class.

So this is my Rush binder,
because I have OCD,
so it's just going to be
organized by each sorority,
with each recruitment letter,
and then I'm probably
gonna have a mock-up
of my recruitment letter of
how I'll send it out
to each person in here as well.
I'm definitely going to do
Google slides of my outfits,
and I'm gonna have them
pre-planned and packed
in a separate bag,
so that way, if I still need
to unpack some stuff
after my parents leave
or while I'm rushing,
like, at night time,
I can unpack that,
but I want to have all
my Rush stuff ready to go.
When did you know you wanted
to be in a sorority at Alabama?
Yes, so I started watching
Gracie O'Connor,
who's on YouTube.
It made me want
to go there even more.
She was like,
so adorable and fun,
and I was like,
that looks like so much fun
and I want that.
Here it is. It's my final look.
Got this super cute
tassel earrings,
bracelets, and the necklace.
When Bama Rush Tok blew up,
you know, I had plenty
of people commenting,
"Don't forget the OG,
Gracie O'Connor."
And I'm like, me?

At the University of Alabama,
Rush consists of four
highly competitive rounds
that give sororities
and potential new members
the chance to make
the best possible impression
on one another.
And during these rounds,
the sororities vote
on their top PNMs,
and the PNMs vote
on their top sororities.
They're trying to find
the perfect match.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Basically what happens
is there's multiple girls
that gets to talk to one PNM.
That amount of girls
will get to vote on her.
If she gets high enough votes
or if we like her,
then she'll come back.
Over the course of the week,
the girls return to
fewer and fewer sororities,
whether they were dropped
or chose to drop
certain sororities
along the way.
Active members are
looking for girls
that we can see futures in
and that are going to, like,
literally uphold our chapter
and make us better
in all aspects,
whether that be grades or, like,
how we present ourselves
to the universe.
If you're not meeting
a certain criteria,
you'll kind of just be dropped.
After the final round,
PNMs choose their top sorority
and the sororities select
their new pledge class.
It comes down to, like,
crunch time, and no one wants
to make any decisions
on anybody's girl,
but someone has to.
And so we're just, like,
crying through the process.
Like, it's never easy.
That part sucks.
[ Crying ]
It's way more dramatic
than you're thinking it is.
[ Laughing ] Like, it's way...
And I'm not going to tell you
how hard it is.
I'm so sorry. I can't.
This all leads up to Bid Day.
The PNMs meet at
Bryant-Denny Stadium
and open envelopes containing
the name of the sorority
that they've been
invited to join,
and hopefully,
it's their top choice.
After the PNMs
open their invitations,
they run back
to their forever home
with the new sisters
in their pledge class.

Rush has gotten so competitive
over the past decade
that I really saw a need
for our services
and what we do to help
prepare girls to go through Rush
and hopefully get them
into the house of their dreams.
I remember when we were going
through recruitment at Georgia,
we would all be looking
at what Alabama was doing.
Yeah, they're just
the trend setters.
And I think that's why so many
out-of-state girls
decide to go to the
University of Alabama and Rush.
It's just this beast,
because Greek life is
everything at Alabama.
The University of Alabama
is the top sorority recruitment
in all of the country,
and it's a huge school
with tons of money
rolling into it
for their football program.
The girls are, like,
glammed to the gods.
It sucks you in.
Rush at
the University of Alabama
traditionally
has kind of a bad rap.
It's kind of
a cutthroat process.
It's just uniquely,
uniquely Alabama,
which doesn't really make
much sense, but...
[ Chuckles ]
I'm still holding out
that we're gonna be able
to get into those houses.
What do you think?
Oh. Probably not.
Getting inside those houses
is like, absolutely not.
They're very protective of it,
and rightfully so,
because of the misconceptions
that people want to expose,
like, these sorority secrets.

Hey, who are you filming for?
Okay, ma'am, I'm going to have
to ask you to, like, leave.

Tell me more about what you hope
to get out of
being in a sorority?
I've had a really hard time
finding someone
that can love me no matter what.
I have, like, my friends
from school who love
the, like, crazy fun,
sneaking into school at midnight
and jumping in the pool
kind of girl.
And then there's my family,
who loves the sweet and caring
and, you know,
really involved person.
And I feel like no one knows
me fully and loves me fully,
and I feel like
that's really something
I want with these girls.







[ Laughing ]
You know what? Let's just go.
[ Vocalizing to self ]
[ Over phone ] Weird?
Why you being weird to me?
[ Speaking along ] You said you
wanted to get married.
"When I say that?"
When you had the leg up,
up, up, up
I have a serious question
for, like, everyone,
and everyone has to answer this.
If you were a fruit, what kind
of fruit would you be and why?
I would be a strawberry.
- Why a strawberry?
- I don't know.
I just... everybody
loves strawberries
and I just, like,
want to be loved
by everybody, because
I low-key, like, see...
Like, I don't like
when people don't like me.
Makayla, what about you?
A watermelon.
Why?
Because I act hard
on the outside,
but I'm soft on the inside.
Aww.
'Cause, I mean,
I moved out at 16, so
as soon as my dad died, I.
[ Snaps fingers ] hit the hay.
I think that's why
we also bond, too,
because we're missing our dads.
Trauma bond! [ Laughing ]

[ Groans ] This hill!
Dang!
There's some fresh bodies
over here.
Why are we seeing
my dad's grave on Halloween?
Why? [ Laughs ]
Oh, my gosh.
Your dad's grave is so pretty.
My dad loved his job so much.
Everyone talks about
how he was the best police.
My dad would even give
my mom tickets. [ Chuckles ]
He was serious about the ticket.
He liked to mess with her a lot.
My dad was such a jokester.
Like, yeah, so he was,
like... I don't know.
[ Crying ]
It just is exhausting
having to hold everything in.
- You don't have to.
- That's how I was raised.
I know.
I was raised the same way.
But me and Abby are
always here for you.
Yeah. [ Sniffles ]
I'm just a very,
like, to myself person
about this kind of stuff.




Whoo! Whoo!
[ Speaking indistinctly ]

[ Music gets louder ]


Hey, y'all.
Alabama recruitment day three,
outfit of the day.
Shirt is a personal gift
from Jeff Bezos.
Jeans are from an internment
camp in San Francisco.
Earrings are a gift from my
grandma from beyond the grave.
Bracelets are from Applebee's
and shoes are from Target.
You know, something
that's ingrained in us
early on is that,
yeah, you're a person,
but you're a Sigma Kappa first.
You're a woman, but you're
a Sigma Kappa woman first,
and that's a lot of what being
in a sorority is.
It's branding.
That's, you know,
every single Greek organization.
That's kind of one of the things
that we sign on to
when we join one.

...for a roll call
Queens of the Row, check
Good grades on exams, check
Where them ZTAs at? Yeah
Should I put on lip gloss?
[ Laughter ]
- Yeah.
- Okay, ready?
- Does it look bad on camera?
- No, it looks pretty.
[ Lip-syncing ]
Oh, no, I lost my pen.
With social media,
with recruitment,
people, like, literally look
at you like you are in college
majoring in sorority,
almost like a little doll
in your fake
University of Alabama world
in your little sorority
doing your,
you know, tiny little tasks.
Everyone's putting
their best out on social media.
I'm not going to post that,
"Oh, I... You know,
I got a C on my chem test,
even though I studied
for 12 hours.
Boo."
Should we hang it
over the balcony right here?
- That's I was thinking.
- That's funny.
- Like this.
- Yeah, look at her.
- Three...
- I can't see the phone.
- Oh.
- I lost something once.
That's good. That's so funny.
- I lost something once.
- [ Laughing ]
- It's so perfect!
- I lost my pen.
People assume what
you're gonna be like
- as a woman in a sorority.
- Yeah.
"Oh, why are you trying so hard?
Like, you should
just get a husband."
I'm not only a sorority girl.
I'm a woman in a sorority.
- Yeah.
- And it's not the same thing.
Honestly, what makes me mad
is that in our sorority,
like, we're so understanding,
and it's the people that,
like, hate on us,
and they stereotype us
I'm like,
y'all are the mean ones, not us.
Like, we don't do anything.
What do we do?
Sit there and eat
our chicken sandwiches together?
Like, what?
We don't do anything.
We put a lot...
A lot of pressure on ourselves.
Example, right here
of my sweet little girls.
- Are you editing us?
- Yep.
- So, like, let's just say...
- Let me look at that.
We want to make
Lauren's arm smaller.
We can go like this.
We can make it smaller,
we can make it smaller.
Let's whiten her teeth
a little bit.
And then let's make
Kaiya's head big for fun,
just so you guys can see.
- Like, just so you can see.
- You want to do me dirty?
- Like, a child could do this.
- It's so easy.
If you want to make
your waist thinner
to make yourself feel better
about posting it online,
I understand,
but the problem is,
is that these women with
millions of followers
14-year-old girls are gonna
look at that and be like,
"Why don't I look that way?"
Post that and act like
it's real.
The things that I say to myself
and think to myself
about my body, I would never say
that to someone else.
You know, when you're living
with other women
and, like, you're around
other women all the time
that, you know, I think
are very beautiful girls...
You know, I would kill to
look like any of my friends.
You know, it's hard to be like,
"That's okay
that I don't look like them."
Everyone has, like,
their important qualities
that aren't affected
by how prettier
you think your friends are
or, like, how you want your hair
to look like her hair.
It doesn't change who you are
and who... like, what people
really value you for.
Okay, great. So there's just
a few more questions
and we can, like, go through.
Well, interim question that
has nothing to do with this,
- but just out of curiosity...
- Yes?
Nobody in my family is even,
like, bald from just
being an older man.
Do you put sunscreen
on your head?
- Yes!
- Yes, right?
- That's what I thought. Yeah.
- So much.
So much, because, like,
I could never get
skin cancer on my head.
- Yeah, what would you do?
- This is my whole thing.
Right. That's terrible.
It's actually
stressful at the beach.
I can... Right?
You must have to do a hat, right?
With summer, yeah,
I do hats and I do turbans.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, I think I know where
I'm going with this.
Between Katie,
this smart, beautiful girl,
telling me that she wishes
she looked like her friends
or she compares herself
to other women
and the endless scrolling
of these OOTDs,
it hit me.
I feel like I rushed, too.
And just stay with me on this...
In these OOTDs, these girls
are showing us their earrings,
their necklaces, their outfits
that they put on
to look like
they belong in a sorority.
And I feel like I rushed
because I have alopecia
and I wore a wig for 14 years.
I wore a different wig
every year.
I wore a mullet, a bowl cut,
a blunt cut, a body wave,
a perm... I wore a layered look.
My Rush looked different.
I was trying to get into
the sorority of
all of the girls
in the world who have hair,
and it felt like an impossible
sorority to get into.
I was going to compete
for my position,
and my wig was a secret.
If you found out
that I wore a wig,
if you even questioned
that I wore a wig,
it would shatter me.
So I know it's not exactly like
the Alabama Rush,
but it's like,
not that different.
I think the competition
mostly comes from
the rankings of sororities,
trying to get in one of those
top or middle-tier houses
and not getting into
a bottom house.
I visited the
University of Alabama,
observing
the sorority Rush parties.
I probably saw
five or six houses.
Rush is a social
stratification ritual bar none.
Stratification in the sense
of organizing people
and groups of people
into tiers of power,
of status, of prestige.
It's a proving ground
of competitive femininity
and the contemporary performance
of the Southern belle.
- Hey, y'all.
- Hey, y'all.
Hey, y'all.
Do you think I would get
into a top-tier house?
You wouldn't get in
with those shoes.
You got to have cute shoes.
[ Both laugh ]
Who determines the rankings?
I have no idea, to be honest.
Actually, I'm going to give you
my potential thoughts on it.
I think a lot of the times
people like to rank...
And by people,
I usually mean fraternity boys
or boys in general,
I feel like they're like,
"Oh, this house
has the hottest girls,
so they're a top house."
Like, "These freshmen
are the hottest freshmen,
so they're going to be
considered a top house."

The potential new members
are trying to get in,
but also, these sororities
are trying to get,
like, the best girls.
- For sure.
- What does that even mean?
Yeah, so, the ranking system,
I truly believe it's based
on the fraternities.

So essentially,
they have a social calendar,
and they get to mix
with certain sororities,
but it's only a limited amount,
and the fraternities want to be
mixing with the hottest
sororities, of course,
'cause, you know,
they're 20-year-old males.
So that's kind of where
the ranking system comes from.
They want to make sure the girls
who are wearing their letters
are up to their standards.

The hierarchy of sororities
that exist here
really determines
how your experience
in the Greek system
is going to be.
There are a lot of things
that you're entitled to
when you're
in a top-tier sorority.
You're entitled to test banks
that are going to help you
on your exams.
You're entitled to people
in your sorority
that have better connections,
whether their parents
are richer or more connected.
You're entitled to a male gaze
that might be a little bit
more beneficial to you.
And so, you know,
being in a bottom-tier sorority,
I have to understand that
at some point, there's nothing
that I can do to change
institutionalized rankings.
You know, Sigma Kappa,
we've done all the right things,
but we'll never be
anything but bottom tier
for at least
the next 20, 30 years,
because that's just
how it works here.
You guys,
as far as we have heard,
are considered
like, a top-tier sorority.
- I...
- I mean, I'm not going to lie.
Like, whenever I tell someone
what sorority I'm in,
and they're like, "Oh, wow,"
that's flattering.
I think it's hard.
We kind of have to tiptoe
around this question,
because we would be naive
to deny that lots of people
recognize us as a top tier...
"top tier" house.
But do I think there are
other great sororities?
- Absolutely.
- Absolutely.

[ Dog barking in distance ]
[ Engine shuts off ]

So this is basically
the Shelby Taj Mahal.
That's what my family calls it.
But these are awards
from dance competitions.
I volunteer with children with
special needs and we race,
and the girl that I raced with
got first place.
Look, I got the Super Style
award in fifth grade.
I think Rush is a week-long
adrenaline rush like no other.
The Olympics, that's what
we should call it from now on.
I definitely think it's
a sport. Definitely.
So this is my pageant binder.
This is my life
when I competed in pageants,
so it's kind of
why I wanted to do
the sorority Rush binder
for myself.
I will have kind of the similar
things in here for Rush.
I'll definitely have
a motivation tab of just
a ton of quotes
and stuff for me to look at.
I like the paper copy because
I like to be able to feel it
and really look at it,
'cause sometimes
when you're in the moment
and you're stressed out
and you're worried,
you forget all the things
that you've been taught.
I feel like I fit in perfectly
with the way that they dress...
Not because I've chosen
to be that way,
but just because, like,
that's who I am.
I don't think you want to wear
anything that's too scandalous,
or as we call it, scandy.
You don't want to, like, have
a bad reputation for yourself.
You want to keep it
the three C's...
Classy, calm, and cool.

The biggest thing is that,
because it started so early on,
like, maybe 1800s... 1898.
Zeta Tau Alpha
was established in 1898.
There's kind of like
those really old-timey,
strict rules
of what the group is.
You have a lot of rules
you have to follow,
which, some of them
I really agree with.
Some of them are like,
"Oh, are you kidding me
right now?"
We are not allowed to drink
in our letters whatsoever.
I don't think in any of
the sorority houses,
- you can have alcohol.
- Why is that, do you know?
It must be a Panhellenic rule,
because fraternities are
always allowed,
and the amount of alcohol
in that house is disgusting.
[ Laughs ]
Another rule that I just
thought was really dumb...
No wet hair in the house
on the first floor.
I know there was one house
that my roommate
was in freshman year.
She told me that they literally
could not leave the dorm
unless they had two
out of three done,
which was either you had to
have your hair done,
makeup done, or outfit on.
All it takes is one person
to know what chapter you're in
and like,
to reach out to somebody,
and you can be
in trouble the next day.

Like, as far as our rules,
we have just
the longest COC
in the entire universe,
our code of conduct.
The ones I usually
get in trouble for
are like,
disrespecting a sister,
which is such
a subjective thing,
and really makes
our standards process
kind of a joke sometimes.
So essentially, what happens is
you go to the standards meeting.
There are six girls
that like to play judge
and they like to reiterate that
you're innocent
until proven guilty,
but you're... you're guilty
until you prove yourself innocent.
Is that my standards? [ Laughs ]
"Specify the issue or concern."
"Member had a video of her
wearing her Sigma Kappa letters"
misspelled.
"The video seemed to put
Sigma Kappa
and Greek life in
a negative light."
And since coming here,
I've changed in ways
that I don't fucking like.
Roll Tide, though.
Did I lie? Did I lie? Did I lie?
I didn't lie.
I wasn't talking shit
about Sigma Kappa
or like, the Greek life.
I was saying that, like,
the culture at Alabama
is fucking weird.
And you know what? It is.
So die mad.
This is my ministry,
lightweight-type chemistry
Going to Italy,
like it, you feeling me?
Playing with my racks,
a nigga attacks
Fuck with me crucially,
you catchin' disa
Playing with my racks,
a nigga attacks
Fuck with me crucially,
you catchin' disa
Are you serious?
They're literally wearing
someone else's sticker.
And I got in trouble
for wearing another sticker?
Are you kidding me right now?

I just felt like they were
looking for a reason to drop me.
Other girls went upstairs
in fraternity houses.
Other girls slept
at fraternity houses,
and they're still
in the sorority.

I know who tattled on me.
I'm not going to say.
And it's fine, like, you know,
I just wish nothing
but happiness for her
and I hope she's having, like,
the best life in DZ as she can.


I've been meeting every week
with a sorority consultant.
Her name's Sloan,
and she's the best.
I love her, and I feel like
I would be
absolutely lost without her.
You have to remember
who's recruiting you
19-year-olds, 20-year-olds,
and 21-year-olds.
- Yeah.
- Do they...
Are they looking for you
to talk about a specific topic?
- No. No, they're not.
- Yeah.
So what they are looking for you
is just to stay away
from five topics.
And they're called
the five B's, and that
I don't know who
came up with that,
but it's just a great way
for you to, like,
kind of remember.
So, Boys.
It just means fraternity boys
and talking about like, swaps
or mixers or anything like that.
But if they bring it up,
it's okay to talk about it,
just you don't want to, like,
initiate that conversation
and be like, "What fraternities
do you guys hang out with?"
The next one is Booze.
Just don't talk about alcohol.
Bible.
All they mean is like,
asking about their religion,
what church they go to
or anything like that
puts someone in a corner.
The next one is Bucks,
so, money.
So you don't want to be like,
"Does your dad own a yacht
off of the South of France?"
or anything like that.
Or you don't want to bring
that stuff up as well.
And the last one is Biden
is what they're probably
referring to now,
and all it means is, politics.
And again, you're more than
welcome to talk about diversity
and Black Lives Matter
and if you're, you know,
a political science major
or anything like that,
going to law school,
Elle Woods, whatever.
But you just don't want
to ask them specific questions
about their
political affiliation.
So, "What are your thoughts
on inflation?
What are your thoughts on Biden?
Do you think Donald Trump
should have won the election?"
It just puts people in a corner
and it makes them uncomfortable.
- Yeah.
- That's all it is.

So my experience
was pretty typical,
and I definitely had
my ups and downs.
I got dropped by a sorority
I loved on Pref,
and I was really devastated.
I was literally crying
in the Miller Learning Center
at Georgia,
and I wiped the mascara
from under my eyes and said,
okay, I'm going to give these
two sororities one more chance,
and Pref completely changed
my mind on the sorority
I ended up joining.
I met this incredible woman,
and she was just so fun.
Like, it was the first time
during sorority recruitment
where I didn't put pressure
on myself
and I was just able to open up
and talk to her
and she was so fun.
Luckily, they liked me enough
to make sure
that I was on the Bid Day list.
What's giving me anxiety
is my anxiety,
'cause I'm like, what if I,
like, break down?
Like,
what if I have a panic attack?
What if I start
to get really nervous
or I mess something up
and, like, it causes me to,
like, totally,
you know, spiral?
So I'm on medication and stuff,
but just,
do you have any tips to make me,
like, less anxious?
And I think the main thing
that will cause like, anxiety
is if like, I think I messed up
or if I say the wrong thing
and I get really like...
you know, just, like, nervous
and have a panic attack.
Do you have any, like, tips
on how to, like, not freak out?
Great question.
So we'll have a ton of practice.
- Okay.
- We'll figure out your answers
and practice your conversations,
so you will be
hitting your points.
- Yeah.
- Good.
But also, the members
are there to reassure you.
You'll know if you had
a good conversation.
- Uh-huh. Yeah.
- Also, I'm a phone call away.

I have always been, like,
an anxious person.
I would be so anxious
that I would cry myself
to sleep every night.
I always kind of struggled,
like, with my body
and, like,
with feeling confident.
These girls would make fun of me
every single day
in the locker room,
like, about my body and make
comments while I'm changing,
you know, comments about, like,
not eating, like, I shouldn't
eat or if I, you know...
Wear this, then I look fat,
or stuff like that.
And [Voice breaking] it sent me
into a really bad relationship
with food.
So for like a full year,
I was living with, like,
an eating disorder.
And I hope by the time
I'm in college,
I will be in a lot better place, mentally.
Isabelle reminded me
that the locker room
is a terrifying place
for a girl.
In the summer between
fifth grade and sixth grade
at day camp, this girl...
Let's call her Sally Steinberg...
Cornered me in the locker room,
and she said,
"I know you're wearing a wig."
And I said, "No, I'm not."
And then she said,
"Yes, you are."
And it was devastating,
and it was frightening.
I was mortified.
It felt like she was saying,
"You're not one of us,
and you'll never be,
and I know."

So I, like...
So you know how I was talking
about my eating disorder?
- Yeah.
- For years... If I can ask...
- Can I ask you a question?
- Sure.
Okay, so for years,
did you, like,
stand in the mirror for, like,
hours and just, like,
look at yourself and like...
I do that all the...
And like, even if I pass
a mirror now, I'm like...
And I, like,
have cellulite on my legs now
from working out and stretch
marks, and I'm like... [ Sighs ]
But, like, they're so beautiful
because it shows, like,
I'm overcoming something
and growing.

I'm just jealous
of your hip flexors.
It's like, my quads and stuff
are bigger now
'cause like, they've got,
like, all the muscles
flowing into them.
[ Sighs ]
[ Groans ]
I'll show you
the before and after.
Yeah, show us.
Okay, that was a bad video,
but it's fine.
How much do you think
it has to do with looks?
Great question.
This is something I have thought
about for years,
to be completely honest,
how much looks matters
during sorority recruitment.
And I think it matters
to a certain extent.
Again, you have to be
"pretty enough" to get in.
I would say they only really,
truly matter at round one.

Just from talking to women
all over the country,
I have realized
there's four main steps
that really
help women stand out.
First one is all about
getting your name out there,
because you want people
talking about you
before sorority recruitment starts.
The second step I always take
my clients through is mindset,
because sorority recruitment
is an emotional journey.
You immediately get
in your head.
What happened?
Am I not pretty enough?
Am I not cool enough?
Like, why did these
sororities drop me?
The third step is
the most important one,
I believe, is small talk.
We figure out your answers to
the questions through a formula
because there really just
is a simple formula.
And the last step
is optimization strategy,
which is just playing the game.
Sorority recruitment's a game...
You have to know how to play it
to keep
sororities interested in you.
If you're getting
an average score,
you're not getting invited back.
Some girls get
their second choice.
Some girls have been dropped
so much in the process,
and they just settled.
And some girls, they get calls
right before Bid Day, like,
saying, "You've been dropped
from sorority recruitment."
Which is hard.

Do I look Southern?
Definitely there,
they don't like girls
who look "too Northern."
I look very Northern.
Like, that's not going
to change that much.
Okay, I saved this one for last
because, oh, it is so unique,
and I love to be unique,
and this is definitely
just a great, unique dress.
Tomorrow I'm gonna go pick up
my sorority dress
for my sorority,
and I'm rushing my sorority.
What sorority do you want
to be in?
The sorority I want to
be in is to not...
To not be discussed,
because that brings bad luck
if I tell you guys.
Those boys are fine.
That one... not the one
with the long things,
but the mixed one
with the curly hair.
- No, bro.
- What?
When we rush, it's gonna be like
real crazy.
Hey. Hey! Hey, hey! Hey!

If you thought Alabama Rush
was crazy,
just wait until you hear
about The Machine.
Burglary, cross burning, vandalism.
You are deep into it
that you have found out
about The Machine.
Congratulations.

Have you guys heard of
this thing, "The Machine"?
Do you know about that?
For...? For sororities?
No, it's like, for all
Greek life in Alabama
and it's on the Internet,
and I was like, what is this?
I don't think I know.
[ Laughing ]
Like, I don't think
it's an actual thing.
We always get asked this.
People ask us this all the...
Because it is on social media.
All my friends
from home think...
- They're like, ooh.
- Yeah.

What's the deal
with The Machine?
No, I can't talk about that.
- Can't talk about it.
- Yeah.
It'd ruin, like,
a lot of stuff for us.
Even our life, honestly?
- Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's deep.

Mnh-mnh.
We would never get
into a sorority again.
- No. Danger.
- Okay.
I'm John Archibald.
I've been a journalist
in Alabama for...
God... 36 years now,
and I got my start
at the University of Alabama
because of The Machine.

It's a secret society.
I believe that the phrase was,
"little is known,
and what is known is secret."
Something very similar to that.
So The Machine
is the Greek system.
They go synonymous,
they're hand in hand.
It's the exact same thing.
They control everything
on this campus.
So if there's an election,
The Machine's rigging it.
If there's a Homecoming queen,
it's The Machine candidate.
You're going to look at awards
and different jobs and networks,
it's all going to The Machine
kids that run their own thing.
Even the most trivial things
like football seats,
it's going to The Machine kids.
Every Greek house
that's a member of The Machine
each have Machine representatives.
These representatives
form a council that meets
in fraternity basements
to discuss student politics,
and then they report back
to their house
and their student politicians
within those houses
and tell them how to vote.
You know, I wish that
I could say that I had never
gotten involved with The Machine
in the first place,
but like, I did.
I really did try
to be a good Machine senator,
But at the end of the day,
something just felt
really dark and ugly about it.
We slowly make our way over
to the Kappa Alpha house,
and we go downstairs
into the basement,
and I kind of peer in
and can see
this circle
of people standing around
in this kind of like dingy,
smelly fraternity basement.
I'm asking myself,
"What have I got myself into?"
Because I'm like, number one,
why are we meeting
in a basement?
Number two, why are we meeting
at, you know,
10:00, 11:00 at night
on a Tuesday?
What are we hiding?
The individual
leading the meeting,
he was like, "This is just
an opportunity for you
to see each other's faces.
This is, like,
the group of people
you're going to
be working with."
Up until that point,
I didn't understand
that I was essentially
going to be a figurehead
that was going to do what
my Machine rep told me to do.
And, you know,
every time I did something
that she wanted me to do,
I always received
positive feedback.
I always received praise.
In that moment, I felt like
I was doing something good,
but I really wasn't doing
anything at all
except, you know,
being a puppet.
I think it's ridiculous that
sororities require you to send
a screenshot
of your voting receipt, right?
Others want the e-mail
of your voting receipt, like,
and if you don't send that in,
some sororities fine you.
My sorority reacted
very negatively to the article,
because The Machine
is the Greek system.
I think it was perceived as me
going against my own sisterhood
and my own sorority.
Only a handful of
independent candidates
have successfully gone against
The Machine and beat them.
The university actually
had to shut down
the Student Government
Association from 1993 until 1996
because of The Machine's
alleged activities.

The Machine systematically
made sure that a minority group
on campus of "elite people"
who got special treatment,
who lived in special homes,
who came from the most affluent
and powerful families,
got an advantage
on everyone else.
It's a way better teacher
of how to do
nefarious things for power
than you could ever get
in a political science class.
But I think it's a threat
to people's hopes and dreams
that they may not be able
to fit into the crowd
in maybe the tax bracket
they want to fit into.
I think the danger
is not belonging,
it's not being one
of the chosen people.

[ Singsong voice ] Okay.
Little update for you guys.
I'm so excited.
We are 139 days from me
attending the University
of Alabama and rushing.
It is so nice to see,
like, an actual copy
in my hand
of my sorority rsum.
I've had three different
people proof it.
I need to tweak a few things.
I'm going to bring
this light pink down.
And then I also have
my headshot.
I probably look my best
in this photo.
It's honestly been really
therapeutic doing this rsum
and just creating this.
I've been super stressed out
with school
and just life in general and
my anxiety has been really bad,
so honestly, what's been
pushing me through each day
is reminding myself
that I get to go to the school
that I've wanted to go to
since my freshman year,
and I also get to rush
and meet a bunch of new people.
On the days when I feel
super lonely at home,
that's what I think about
constantly, is how I get to
go to a new school
and meet new people.
So if you're feeling down
right now,
just think of the future
and think of the positive,
'cause that's what
I've been doing.
Just an update for y'all.
[ Laughing ]
[ Up-tempo music playing ]

Hey
Am I normal enough?
So why do you think
you need a Rush consultant?
Just 'cause I didn't have
anyone in my family
that's been through
the Rush process,
so going to her would help,
like, get all my stuff in order.
So when I walk in the house,
you know, like in
the open house or whatever,
and you meet them and like,
I'm talking,
having a conversation
and then I run out of,
like, things to say
and I'm just staring back
at them, like,
what am I supposed to do?
I can help you be prepared
for that awkwardness,
and so you're not
going to have it.
Somebody else can be awkward.
You're not gonna be awkward.
Just sayin'.
So does that answer
your question?
That make you feel
a little bit better?
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
So we do rsum and pictures,
and then we start working
on your recommendations.
I used to be
a professional photographer,
so I can shoot a few pictures
of you today if you want.
Look up at me.
[ Camera shutter clicking ]
I really want to do one with you
laying with your feet
crossed behind you.
Hold on.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]

I've lived one of their
worst nightmares.
I can still smell
the smells of the dorm room.
I remember this girl
was sitting,
leaning against the wall,
reading a book, like,
while she was
waiting to find out.
And I was like,
"How can anybody
be that confident
that they're getting in
the sorority?"
This girl got into
a sorority and I didn't,
and I was just weeping
for hours.
I was embarrassed.
What did I do? Am I ugly?
What is it about me
that I can't be getting ready
to go to a social tonight?
I went back through Rush
my sophomore year
and got my first choice,
but it has made me
uniquely understand
the feelings
that these girls are having.
I can recall that feeling
just like it was yesterday.
From that experience, that's why
I started this business.
Now do, like,
a really big smile.
[ Camera shutter clicking ]
[ Birds chirping ]
[ Clicking continues ]
God, you are so perfect
for this.
Hold on, one second.
[ Camera beeps, shutter clicks ]
Everyone here thinks
I'm everything but Black.
Like, I'm white and Black.
They think I'm everything.
Like, this one guy thought...
Like, he was...
He swore that I was just white
and just really, really tan.
- Tan.
- Yeah.
I was like, can you not tell,
like, I'm mixed?
Everyone here just look at you
if you have any color in you.
It's just, like,
really awkward, I guess.
I feel like a black sheep.
If I'm too white,
then I'm whitewashed,
but if I act too Black, then
I'm not white enough.
Like, what am I supposed to be?
'Cause I'm both races.
Why can't I just act myself?
I'm not acting a race.
You can't act a race.
I'm just split in two,
my whole life.
I'm just gonna be split.
Society's dumb.
So at the University of Alabama,
the Panhellenic sorority
are historically like, white,
and the Divine 9 here
is historically
a Black sorority.
What's the difference between.
Black sororities
and the white sororities?
I don't really know much
about the Black sororities
that much,
because I haven't
actually looked into it,
because I just wanted to be in
the other one.

To be in a D9 sorority,
I feel like there is
a tie to history
that you need to have.
Even had I become
more comfortable
with who I was
in a racial sense,
I still feel like
I wouldn't fit in there,
because I was raised
by white people.
I think that they
would have accepted me,
but I wouldn't have
accepted myself enough
to get the sorority experience
that I would
have been happy with.
So in my sorority, I haven't had
any overt racist experiences,
but I have had some weird things
that people feel empowered
to say to me.
I was at chapter for
formal chapter.
So we have to be, you know,
in business casual, essentially,
and I...
there were a group of girls,
and there was one girl
in my sorority that,
she is [sighs]...
She... she wants so badly
to be progressive
and to be like "woke"
or whatever.
She goes, "Oh, my God, Rian,
your hair is curly."
I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, I haven't
I didn't straighten it."
She goes,
"Did your relaxer wash out?"
I'm like, "Oh, my God.
Oh, my God."
Like, what does that even mean?
Like, what...?
It's that she, like,
wants to, like, flex that
she, like, has an understanding
of Black culture
and she, like, knows
what a relaxer is,
but, like, bestie girl.
What?
The same girl, probably
every time that I, like,
sit down and I talk to her,
she's like, "Remind me.
Which one of your parents
is white?"
I'm like, "It's still my mom.
It is still my mom.
Every single time
that you will ask me,
it's still my mom."
She's not getting any darker.
Like what?

So I attended
the University of Alabama
from the fall of 1983
through the spring of 1987.
I started law school in '87
and graduated in '90,
so I was there for two tours.

So you would think that progress
would be made more quickly,
that it wouldn't take
until the year 2013
to integrate the sororities,
but when you think
about the history
of the sororities themselves
and the history
of the state of Alabama
and just
the undercurrent of racism
that has been so prominent
in our history,
it really doesn't surprise me
that it took that long.
I didn't necessarily see it
as an option or a choice
to rush Panhellenic.
I didn't see any women that look
like me in those organizations.
It's a busy time at Alabama.
It's time for sorority Rush.
Girls brimming with excitement
at the thought of being chosen
to move to Magnolia Drive.
But there's another
group moving in...
The Alpha Kappa Alphas.

We were the first
African-American sorority
on Sorority Row.
We integrated Sorority Row.
One, two... three, four
A-L-P-H-A K-A-P-P-A
A-L-P-H-A
Alpha Kappa Alpha
A-L-P-H-A K-A-P-P-A
A-L-P-H-A
Alpha Kappa Alpha
One night after we were at a...
At a fraternity party,
we were driving by
and we noticed a smoldering
cross on the front lawn.
We were terrified.
And anger crept in later,
after we got beyond
the shock and the dismay
of the entire situation.
Now, I grew up in Alabama,
so hearing that crosses
were being burned
is something that
I grew up hearing about,
but I had never personally seen
a cross being burned.
And once you see that,
you can't unsee it,
and it sticks with you
for a lifetime.

I have come to know and love
the people in my sorority,
and to know that they wouldn't
have loved or trusted me
40, 50 years ago,
it makes me feel upset.
And I... I honestly,
for my own self-preservation,
don't really like
to think about it.

[ Indistinct chatter ]


- [ Water splashing ]
- Little bit more?
Just a little bit more.
On Bid Day, we sat outside,
and we could hear, like,
all the screams coming from
the stadium
whenever they opened their bids.
- And it was just crazy.
- Oh, my gosh.
My friend sent me a snap,
and he was like,
- "The ground just rumbled."
- Literally.
[ Indistinct chatter ]
I'm gonna rush in the fall.
I'm rushing in the fall,
for sure.
- And then what about Abby?
- I'm not planning on it.
It just... it's lot of money
and a lot of time commitment
and just a lot of work,
it seems like.
So there's like, almost
250 calories in my bowl,
because the meat and seasoning
and everything.
How do you know that?
'Cause that's why
I count out the chips,
so there's exactly 10 chips
in my bowl.
Wait, I didn't even see you
do that, though.
'Cause I... when I was
shaking it, I counted it out.
I just have this image in
my head that I need to be
- like, tiny, I guess, 'cause...
- You are tiny.
Well, I don't...
I really don't see myself...
Like, when I look at myself,
I see myself, like, as fat.
Like, I know you guys
say I'm not,
but, like, I see myself as that
and I can't help it.
I feel like I would never have
had an eating disorder
or anything
if the boys growing up
didn't say what they said to me.
Yeah, it is...
It really is the men.
I feel like women are like...
Like, you grow up to,
like, cater to men,
and it's sad.
Have the three of you
ever gotten in a fight?
- No.
- I don't think so.
We... like, last night, okay,
I get overstimulated sometimes
really easily and, like,
I just break, like,
I'm just like,
"Oh, my God, Stop. Like,
everything just needs to stop."
And so last night,
I got a little overstimulated
and I yelled at Makayla, and
then she was like, "We're good."
[ Chuckles ]
It was bad, but we're good.
Yeah, I wasn't listening to her
when she
was yelling at me, either.

Hardcore Southern Baptist.
We're all Baptist?
I didn't know that.
I think when you're
raised in Alabama,
you're kind of forced to be.
I don't know, there's a lot of
people in my town
that are, like,
Presbyterian and stuff.
What's your relationship
with God like?
I really think He's just
the anchor in my life,
that I need to, like, keep,
'cause life be getting
real difficult sometimes.
And the fact that He
risked His life...
Like, He died for us
and, like, just for our sins.
I don't know,
that's just really comforting
to know that someone
would do that for you.
[ Laughs ] Hold up.
Like, if I could do anything
ever again,
it would be Rush week.
- The experience is worth it.
- Yeah.
Like, because everyone talks
about how, like, cool it is.
I just want to do it.
Feet are, like, on the wall?
Well, that's the thing...
Makayla does that all the time.
- I'm like...
- You don't think it'd be weird?
I don't mean it to be stretchy.
Like [ Laughter ]
I did that too well, though.
Yeah, you did.
You've gone that way before.
- I'm like...
- No!
No, me and Makayla were like...
[ Breathing hard ]
- We were like, "Hey."
- "Heyyy."
Makayla was like, "George Bush!"
Did I tell you
she did that to me?
[ Laughing ]




Hey
We got roofied at a bar.
[ Chuckles ]
So, this guy ordered us shots.
One of the bartenders was
telling us how, like,
when they went back
in the video footage,
he, like,
slipped it into all of them.
So it's nice.
We love that for us.
The last thing I remember
is looking at Makayla,
and I was gone, and my, like,
friend found me in the woods.
We took Makayla to the hospital,
and she had, like,
drugs in her system,
and we don't do drugs,
like, at all,
and I was with her
the whole night.
But they did find him,
and he did get beat up
really bad. [ Chuckles ]
Do you think he'll get,
like, criminal charges?
If we... If anybody
pressed any, but I'm not.
I don't know, I just don't...
Honestly, I don't want to go
through the whole court case,
'cause I've only been through
that court case.
I don't want to go
through it again. It's annoying.
- Have you been roofied before?
- Mm-hmm.
Like, three times before.
[ Dogs barking in distance ]
Oh, I could give you
the pageant walk, but...
[ Laughs ]
It's so, like, fierce, though.

Heyyy
[ Laughs ]
It's hard to be a perfectionist,
because you want everything
to go in order,
and sometimes it doesn't.
And when there's multiple things
that just don't go right,
it really stresses me out.
And my adoption, like,
it triggers some of
my depression and my anxiety.
When people are,
like, going distant,
it really makes me nervous
because I
I have trust issues with people,
and I get nervous that people
are gonna leave me.
I accidentally found out
about me being adopted.
I'm really close with
my grandparents,
and my grandpa had handed me
a paper, and he was like,
"Do you think your parents
still want this paper?"
And I was like,
"I don't think so.
Like, let me just read it,
though."
I was more concerned
about my homework,
and I'd read it after,
and it had talked
about me being adopted,
and I was like...
I thought they were joking
and, like,
I thought it was a joke,
so I was waiting for, like,
the laughing,
and there was no laughing.
Like, he was just focused
on doing his own thing.
He didn't even know
that it said that.
So it... it turned
my world upside down.

Basically, I thought I knew
who I was,
and then it completely changed.
I've been in therapy
since I was 13,
and then last year, I started
doing some trauma treatments
for just trauma that I didn't
even realize that I could have,
but it was making my anxiety
and my depression so high.
I used to be able to not even
take a test in class
without almost passing out.
So I'm really hoping that
when I get to Alabama, like,
I can just always have
an open heart and an open mind
and just let myself be me
and not let my triggers,
like, affect me
and take over my life there.

Just like Shelby,
I was really looking forward
to freshman year of college.
It's a new beginning.
My big plan was that
I was going to take the wig off.
But when I got to college,
I was too scared.
I couldn't do it.
I couldn't even tell my freshman
year roommate that I wore a wig.
So I slept in my wig
every single night that year.
I was convinced that,
if you knew I was bald,
you wouldn't want
to be my friend.

- [ Turn signal clicks ]
- I don't know.
I always said I was
never going to dye my hair.
And then I started, like,
I got highlights
and now I just can't stop.
Like, every time I love
to just go lighter and lighter.
Every time she asks what I want,
I just say, "Okay, blonder."
- Which one of the dates? August?
- Yeah.
We have Open House
and then Philanthropy.
And then there's
Sisterhood Preference Day,
and then there's Bid Day.

I had a whole spiritual
awakening while you were gone.
You don't even understand.
During finals,
I definitely had, like,
a blinding revelation.
Like, I sat myself down
in front of a mirror
and was like,
"How you've been acting lately
is not you,
that's out of character,
and you need to
pull it together."
The stuff I've been doing,
like, going out how I have been,
you know, I shouldn't be
doing that on a Wednesday.
I need to be focusing
on my studies.
Like, I'm there to build
my career, make money,
and build an empire.
I'm not there to
see who can drink the most.
Like, that's just not me.
I just need to grow up.
I'm not trying to force
anything anymore.

Holliday: Hey,
what are you doing?
Driving.
Are you okay?
Oh, I just wanted
to talk to you.
I got a text last night
and someone was telling me
about how you
and Kirsten were just,
like, trashing me and
talking, like,
really bad about me
and I just want to talk to you
about that because
I don't really understand...
Who said that?
Huh?
- Who said that?
- Emma.
If I was in your position
I would be like,
who am I to believe Makayla
'cause she could
just be saying that
and she is actually
just doing that.
Well. Um.
Kirsten literally told Emma
that you said
I was psycho and clingy.
And I just had one
of Emma's friends...
That was with her last night...
Confirm that Kirsten said
that you said that.
This is... [ Sighs ]
This is so annoying.
I just want to be
out of the drama.
(CALL ENDS)
I don't know who to believe
anymore 'cause
I feel like everyone just lies.

[ Cellphone rings ]
[ Cellphone beeps ]

All she does is
hang out with Kappas,
and so she just ignores me now.
It's just a sorority
she wants to be in.
Well, I'm upset about it,
but, like, I... oof. Ugh.
I hate emotions. [ Chuckles ]
I do.
I'm so emotionally unavailable.
It's so sad.

[ Cellphone buttons clicking ]


I was leaving a place,
and I, like, stopped
'cause I heard my name.
Like, tell me how many people
on this campus
have the name Holliday?
Yeah, zero.
So I was eavesdropping.
I'll be honest.
I was being nosy.
I was eavesdropping.
I hear these girls
and they're like,
"Is that Holliday girl
going to rush, do you know?"
And then this other girl goes,
"Well, I hope not,
since she's blacklisted
from every sorority."
And I was like,
"Alright, that's cool."
Like, I'm not gonna waste
my time and money.
Like, if that is like
you know, people are going to
blow smoke out their butt,
but like, if that is true,
I'm not gonna waste my money.
Like, there's no point.
I just, like,
don't think mentally
it would be best
for me to rush again,
like, and going through that.
Like, 'cause
I didn't realize, I guess,
until my therapist pointed out,
like, how much of a mental,
like, stress it put on me.
And I don't need that,
because when they say,
like, your freshman year
is a very humbling
and, like,
growing-up experience,
they truly mean that.

There has been a few nights
where I couldn't sleep at night.
Oh, seriously?
'Cause you were scared of
what I was gonna...
Not really afraid of
what you're...
It's just how we're
gonna be perceived.
The world we live in
right now is, like,
- very much cancel culture.
- Judgmental, yeah.
People are going to feel
how they're going to feel,
and I have to keep on
trucking along.
Yeah.
I just don't want
people to, like, hate us.
Or, like, hate me.
I don't want them to hate me.
- Or us.
- And, yeah.
But you're likable!

So, with Instagram
and all social media,
we first do a pre-screen.
So once you register,
they have your name,
and if they have your name,
they have the ability
to find you anywhere...
And these girls are like...
Should be in the FBI,
creating fake accounts
and, like,
making sure they find you,
so they'll figure it out.
So we just want to make sure
your tagged photos
aren't anything
that would be labeled
as "a standard concern."
And I'm not seeing anything.
So what they'll do is they will
come sit right in front of you
and just start talking to you.
Okay, so we'll start with
the first question.
What made you pick
the University of Alabama?
So I'm going into advertising
as my major, actually.
They have
an amazing advertising program,
like, one of the best
in the country.
I think the biggest thing is
going to be the conversations.
Isabelle, you know,
is really good at small talk.
The only thing that I'm worried
about is that lead of getting
to that next part and, like,
her thinking one step ahead,
and that just comes
from practice.
- Do you dye it?
- Yeah.
Like, all that is,
like, blonde now.
And... But we're only doing
a little bit lighter at a time
so it don't fall out.
There is a look
that is well put together
and showing confidence,
and you have to blend in
without crazy sticking out.
You don't have to be
like everybody else,
but you just need
to not stick out.
Not trying to follow the crowd
or the trend,
but while also fitting into
a certain kind of mold
just for Rush.
You don't want to give sorority
a reason to cut you.

What if you just naturally
stick out?
I'm thinking about myself,
because I have no hair.
- Right.
- But, like,
how would you
approach a situation like that
with somebody who just
automatically stood out?
There, how I would approach
someone who
automatically stands out,
and especially
in a place like Alabama,
we have a lot of clients
who stand out
for whatever reason,
but I make sure
that they're willing to listen
and they have to trust me.
They have to trust that I
am not going to
steer them wrong.
If you own it, I think
you're... you're great.
This girl is not owning it.
This is me freshman year,
in my wig.
The only time I took
my wig off that year
would be in the privacy
of the shower stall
in the bathroom.
I would take my wig off and let
the water pour over my head,
and then I'd put my wig
back on and I would wash it,
and I would go into my bedroom
at the dorm
like nothing had happened,
like everything was normal.
Eventually, my sophomore year,
the pain of not being myself
became greater
than my need to fit in.
I finally took my wig off.
It was just a simple action.
Just like... Whhhh!

But I felt like
a thousand-pound helmet,
and it was the hardest thing
I have ever done
in my entire life.
And I did it,
and I took my wig off,
and I never put it back on.

[ Voice breaking ]
And I owned it,
because I'm a bald girl.

That's it.
Hi, guys.
I'm rushing at the
University of Alabama this fall,
and I'm going to show you guys
what is in my Rush bag.
Static guard, scissors,
tweezers, Tide To Go pen,
a first-aid kit, mints,
breath strips,
sunglasses, portable charger,
and then a yoga mat.
And I didn't cut it in case
anybody else needs a seat.
I wanted to be able to share
with them, so I didn't cut it.
And that is everything
in my Rush bag, so...
This is the kind of woman
that you want to marry.
This one right here, okay?
She is more prepared
to take my three children...
This girl is the equivalent
of a CVS receipt.
I want to be stuck
with this girl
if we're all going down.
Because of this girl,
I'm inspired now to dive deep
into sorority TikTok.
[ Insects chirping in distance ]
Now, here is a hard copy
of your rsum
with that picture.
Do you like that picture?
That's the one you sent me.
[Quietly] Yes.
And that's the one that
you want to use for that?
Do you think
we should change it?
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
I think we should change it.
Super important that
you look friendly,
engaging, and really excited
to be doing this video.
Smiling the entire time
you're talking.
It's a necessary evil, so...
[ Beeps ]
Hi. My name is Makayla Miller.
I'm going through recruitment
as a sophomore.
Authenticity is
my number one core value.
In a sorority, like in life,
connecting and finding
true sisterhood can only be done
by being authentic.
Respect is also a key value.
I think sisterhood involves
[inhales deeply]...
Sisterhood involves
respecting your sisters
in all they do.
I look forward to meeting y'all,
and Roll Tide.
More?
Oh, we're going to do
a few more.
I don't know if this is
a little too va-va-voom,
but that's an option.
So, do you have a different
dress for each round?
- I mean, each day of Sisterhood?
- Mm-hmm.
I don't have all of them yet,
but I have, like,
ones that I've been
looking at all summer.
I just don't want to look like
everyone else either.
Because I know I'm gonna show up
wearing the same thing
as someone else.
I do not want that.
Hmm, I don't know
about this place.
It seems like a store
my mom would like, though.
She now sort of looks
like a Disney princess.
A Disney princess!
But taking it and wrapping it,
so you get some tension
and, like...
Tension and keeping it straight.
That's pretty comfortable,
isn't it?
It's not bad.
You could sleep with that
and not look too crazy.
- Beautiful.
- I need to empty this out.
[ Indistinct chatter ]

Hey, guys. I am hoping
you're having a great day.
Not a good day. A great day.
It's about damn time.
Rush is back, bitches!
Here we go. Bama Rush, Season 2.
Much like everyone else
in America this week,
I will not be doing any work
at my corporate job,
and instead,
I will be allocating
every thought and conversation
I have to Bama Rush.

Oh, this is my little chair.
This actually goes here.
[ Laughing ]
Everyone made fun of me
for this, but it's nice,
because we sit on my carpet,
so, like, if my friends
are sitting on my carpet,
I can sit on the pink chair.
I'm really big on crystals.
It's a little piece of home,
but there's like,
a lot of bad energy
being carried on these.
Like, when I first got
all these, I felt really happy,
and then just a lot
of bad things happened,
and I just feel like
I need a recharge.

Two weeks before I came to
the University of Alabama,
I was sexually assaulted.

[ Voice breaking ]
When it happened, like,
I blamed myself
and blamed myself
and blamed myself.
But I was, like, you know,
like, that was the moment
I realized, I was like,
I need to become
my biggest protector.
And, you know, I feel like
I'm a very trusting person.
And I was like,
it is good to be trusting
and it is good to look
for the best in people
and it's good to love others,
but, like,
you need to protect yourself,
because at the end of the day, like,
I'm the only one that was there
for myself at, like, all times.
And, you know,
I know the person that I am,
and the way that people saw me
was not the way I was,
and they treated me
how they thought I was,
and they treated me like
I was trash.
And I was really, really hurt.
And it was really hard.
I had a really hard few weeks
before I came here,
because
I didn't feel like myself,
and I would look
in the mirror every day,
and I would just see the things
that been done to me.
[ Sniffles, chuckles ]
I hate being emotional,
but it's just like
I feel like it was really weird,
just, like, coming here,
because, like, literally,
like, a weight was, like,
lifted off my shoulders,
because I was free from, like,
all the, like,
ideas about me that I had once.
And I saw who, like, I truly was
and that, like, God showed me,
like, who I really,
truly could be.

I can, like, rewrite my story.
My story can start here.
I've been placed with a lot
of just really amazing
female mentors.
My therapist,
she is one of them.
My mom is one of them, and my
church leaders are some of them.
All these women, like,
have really just like,
just shown me, like,
the person, like, I want to be,
which is exactly what
Greek life is about.
Every single girl
in all of these houses
has gone through some amount
of struggle in their life.

These are really strong women
who want to get involved
in their school
and who are passionate about
building each other up.
Like, it is a sisterhood,
and that's why I want to rush.

I'm "nervited" [chuckles]...
Which is, like,
nervous and excited.

What's the thing on TikTok...
Have you ever watched the one
that's like...
[ Chanting, singing ]
Boom, boom, boom, boom
I wanna go to...
[ Both laugh ]
I want to go Delta Zeta...
dun, dun, dun
It was something like that.
It was...
Boom, boom, boom, boom
- Zeta Tau Alpha.
- Yup. They're huge.
And that's Sigma Kappa.

[ Sighs ]
I should have did this
last night.
Rachel,
what's the triangle mean?
The triangle is
Delta and the Alpha...
Gamma Delta.
Yeah. AGD.
We're going to need, like,
a whole alphabet.
I'm gonna carry it around
with me.
I found it.
Yes, Zaya.
This one goes with that.
There's a grand piano.
Like, right?
Yeah. So, like, the stairs are
going up on either sides.
It's actually really pretty.
[ Indistinct whispering ]
So I just have a couple
of thoughts regarding
this supposed
HBO Max documentary
on Bama Rush that's...
Hulu or HBO Max,
whatever it is, like, TV shows.
Okay, you guys, we have more
tea coming through about
is someone filming Rush
this year?
So, Bama Rush update.
I guess we'll address the
elephant in the room real quick.
So I've got to bring it
to you guys,
but I have gotten
a couple of reports
going back to potential people
or a handful of PNMs
being miked up.
Not to be dramatic,
but this HBO special
could be the end
of Greek life as we know it.
The rumor on TikTok
is that they were
wearing microphones
in bracelets.


Okay.
All the rumors are flying
around here at Bama
about HBO or Netflix.
Supposedly, it's HBO that has
about 20 girls they're paying,
and the girls will be miked up
going through Rush.
I don't understand.
They're just going to have
audio, if this is true.
They're not gonna have
any visual recordings.
Um.
I don't get it.
I'm quite puzzled.
What do they think they're going
to gain by recording girls
going through Rush?
They haven't went up
against this college yet,
and I'm telling you,
you don't want to go up against
the University of Alabama.
I am not... I'm here working.
I'm a fraternity mom.
I wouldn't go up against
the University of Alabama.
No way. They call them
The Machine for a reason.
I wouldn't go up against
the University of Alabama.
No way. They call them
The Machine for a reason.
[ Indistinct whispering ]


This is a rumor that started
on social media
that has led to an article
in The New York Times
that my film that you are
watching right now
miked 20 potential new members
to record what goes on inside
the walls of a sorority house.
Anyone who makes a movie...
I'm going to wait for sound.
See, the air conditioner,
for example,
is going to interfere
with our sound.
So we're going to hold.
[ Air conditioner whirring ]
If an air conditioner
is going to interrupt
the quality of sound
for this film,
putting microphones
on girls in houses
where they're all screaming
to hear each other
is also [Chuckling]
not gonna work.
Just...
This is what we're dealing with.
And not only is there
a New York Times article
about this idea,
later in the day,
we received a letter
from the president
of the University of Alabama,
and he CC'd me
and basically the Feds.

But who started the rumor?
That's what I'm curious about.
These accounts
don't even look real.
Another rumor that goes along
with all of this
is that a PNM
has already been disqualified.
[ Crying ]
I kept tucking it, because...
This girl was rushing.
They caught her
with a black hair tie
tied around her T-shirt.
She got kicked out of Rush
because they thought
it was a microphone.

We've never met this girl, ever.
When the execs pulled me over,
I immediately knew
that that could be
the reason that they pulled me.
So I immediately showed them
and they said that they weren't
"at liberty to check me"
or they weren't "at liberty"
to look at anything.
So they said basically
this was a final decision made
before I even had
any chance to say anything.
And I called
the dean of students,
and I called the...
Ambassador of Panhellenic,
and they basically said
there was nothing I could do
and that it was
a final decision.
Little black thing,
so I kept tucking it because...

[ Indistinct whispering ]
You haven't lived until you are
waiting for a text message
from an 18-year-old girl.
We lost Shelby.

It strikes me as being
very Southern,
because we have
a long history of silence.
What's was the first rule
of The Machine?
"What is known is kept secret."
No talking to the media.
I could probably reach too deep
and say that you probably
represent the carpetbaggers
coming down to teach us
what's right and wrong.

[ Sniffles ]
[ Sighs ]
I think they believe that I'm
trying to ruin their tradition.

And I think there's, like,
really good things
about your traditions here,
and I think there's
really toxic things
about your traditions here
and really confusing things
about the traditions here.

But I came into this like,
literally, Roll Tide.
Now that this New York Times
article has named me,
I'm really paranoid.
Like, everywhere I go,
I'm looking over my shoulder.
Our producers are requiring
that we hire a security detail
to be with the film's crew
at all times,
because
they're actually concerned
for our physical safety
at this point.
Because if you
Google "Rachel Fleit,"
the first image that comes up
is of a bald girl,
and I haven't seen
another bald girl in Tuscaloosa
since I started filming here
a year ago.
And if I'm going to keep
filming with my subjects,
I don't know what to do.



Do I need more curls?

"This is insane.
This literally can't be real.
Stop feeding into it."
What do you
feel like when you see that?
I don't know why they are,
so obsessed with it.
The mike...
Well, if we have mikes in there,
that would pick up nothing.
Plus, the conversations,
for the most part,
really are, like,
not that interesting.
What I'm looking most for
is, like, not all,
like, the TikTok stuff.
And at the end of the day,
I want best friends,
and I want to have fun,
like, literally
helping the community,
which is what people
don't see, like,
people don't see all of the good
that sororities do.
It's not just Instagram posts
or, like, pretty girls.

Seven houses tomorrow,
and then I have two houses
on the next day after that,
and then I have one house today.
So I got ten houses back.
Everyone has, like, told me
about how extra the girls are,
like, in the door song
and stuff.
And when I saw that, I was like,
what in the world?
Like, I was sitting there,
like, laughing.
I was like...
[ Chanting, singing ]

[ Chuckles ]
I was like... I was like,
dude, can I really do that?
'Cause I was like, I don't know.
I was talking at both houses
and my lip would get stuck,
like, to my teeth because
there is no spit in my mouth
because I was talking so much.
'Cause they give you, like,
these little water bottles,
and I heard if you drink them,
that it'll, like,
give you bad luck
for the rest of the, like, time,
so you might get dropped
or something bad will happen.
So I just suffered.

I really think you're going
to get your top seven.
- Okay.
- I really think,
and then Pref, it all depends
on, like, what they're thinking.

I realize that,
since being a sophomore now,
you don't have to be in
a sorority to enjoy your life.
It's just me, personally,
I don't think I can do it,
but I know other girls
that love it.

And when I withdrew yesterday,
with my Rho Chi,
she was so, like, supportive.
She just kept telling me
how she was so proud
that I had, like,
an open mindset.

In Atlanta, all the dresses
looked so boring.
- It wasn't your style.
- Yeah.
It felt like I was being, like,
forced to like them, too.
It was annoying.
Did you tell Trisha yet?
- Yeah.
- What'd she say?
Well, she just texted and said,
"Okay, I'm here if you need me.
I'm always in your corner."

I don't really care
about disappointing anyone.


Highlight of my day
was going to AD Pi,
and we're just talking about
making genuine conversations
with people and genuine friends.
Throughout this, like, journey,
like, I've changed so much.
I really have, like,
been finding myself as a person.
This feels more at home than
I've ever felt in a long time.

You can still feel pain and
you can still be angry or sad
at what's been done to you,
and that doesn't
have to go away,
but knowing that
there's, like, a hope
and there's a plan and that
all of the power is within you
and God, like,
really just has given me
so much, like, will to live.

Rush is about being yourself
in these houses,
and I think that
whatever house I choose,
I might not realize
why I chose it in the moment,
or I might not realize
the reason
for everything right away,
but one day, it will all click.



10... 9
8... 7
6, 5, 4, 3
2... 1...
[ Screaming ]
[ All screaming ]
Yes!
[ Indistinct shouting ]

On Bid Day, all I could
think about was home.
So I was just freaking out
and crying
and going back to like
a place of self-hatred
and, like, not knowing who I am.
And then... this sounds so,
like, weird and fake and stupid,
but, like, I... literally all
I could think about was AD Pi
and the girl, McKenna,
that is now, like,
she was my Bid Day Big.
Like, she was all
I could think about,
and I just... she brought me
this sense of hope
and the sense
that I could, like, be myself
and that I finally have
not just a home,
but a place where I belong.

But now I'm here,
and it's so freeing.
And I feel just so, like,
not only at peace,
but, like, hopeful
for the future.

I worry about the...
The reception of all of this
by my sorority sisters,
because I think a lot of them
are going to understand it
as like a betrayal.
It's like, no.
But I also want
these organizations
to be less concerned
with tradition
and more concerned
with the well-being
and the individuality
of their members.
I would like to join
an alumna chapter,
if they'll have me after this.
[ Chuckles ] I would like to.
Like, the people that I met
in my sorority experience
are just the best people
I've met in my entire life.




It's good to be back.

How do you think you've changed
since we've met?
Everything about me has changed.
Like, my outlook on life,
my outlook on this school,
on Greek life.
Like, everything.
I've grown up for sure.
My mom used to have
this photo of me
and I was like,
throwing up a sorority sign.
I was like, "This is the
sorority I'm going to be in."
When I was younger, that's,
like, all I wanted to do.
But I just want to be
my own person.
And I feel like they all try to
mold us to be, like, one person.

What do you think now,
being on the other side of Rush?
Well, I think it...
Like, when you're born,
you automatically are
wanting to belong,
'cause you're just
sitting there, crying,
you're wanting, like, comfort,
like, when you just got out of
this womb to this scary life.
So what else are you
supposed to do?
You're always going to need to
want something.
You're just going to sit there.

[ Laughing, screaming ]
[ Screaming ]
[ Screaming continues ]

Seriously,
we're making a memory.
This is a...
This is a core memory.
- Core?
- Yeah, co-o-o-re.


If you a ZTA
at the University of Alabama
Please come to the stage
for a roll call
Queens of the Row, check
Good grades on exams, check
You can't go a day, check
Without saying "ZLAM," check
Where them ZTAs at? Yeah
- Where them ZTAs at?
- Yeah
- Shout-out to Malik
- Yeah
- Shout-out Momma Deb
- Yeah
- Hottest on the Row
- Yeah
- Top house every year
- Yeah
Where them ZTAs at? Yeah
Where them ZTAs at?
If you a ZTA at
the University of Alabama
Please come to the stage
for a roll call
Queens of the Row, check
Good grades on exams, check
You can't go a day, check
Without saying "ZLAM," check
Where them ZTAs at? Yeah
Where them ZTAs at?
Zeta Tau Alpha,
throw your crowns up, hey
She in Zeta Tau Alpha,
throw your crowns up, hey
Where them ZTAs at? Yeah
Where them ZTAs at?
OOTD! Okay, we... we both have
these cute Zeta shirts
from Zeta.

[ Music fades ]