A former sorority member has revealed the truth behind the rules of Panhellenic culture – just two days after HBO’s ‘Bama Rush’ documentary made bombshell allegations about the University of Alabama’s sororities.
Sydney Thomas, 20, is a sophomore at the University of Alabama and frequently shares her day-to-day routine as a college student on her TikTok, where she boasts over 355,000 followers. Most recently, the 20-year-old sent viewers back into a deep dive of #BamaRush when she detailed ‘ridiculous’ reasons she was forced out of her sorority.
Her candid confession about her experiences as a sorority girl at Alabama come just days after HBO released its sensational documentary exposing the dark underbelly of Panhellenic culture. And, while Sydney didn’t appear in the documentary, she is now lifting the lid on her own experience with one of the university’s most popular sororities.
The University of Alabama’s sorority recruitment process became a viral sensation throughout the past two years after millions tuned in to TikTok watch hopeful ‘sisters’ document their desperate attempt to be a part of Panhellenic culture as a part of the #BamaRush trend.
Sydney Thomas, 20, is a sophomore at Alabama University, and has revealed the truth behind the rules of Panhellenic culture and why she was kicked out
It comes just just two days after HBO’S ‘Bama Rush’ documentary made bombshell allegations about the University of Alabama’s sororities. Pledges are seen during Bid Day 2022
The 20-year-old sent viewers back into a deep dive of #BamaRush when she detailed the ‘ridiculous’ reason she was forced out of her sorority
In a three-part series, Sydney revealed she was kicked out of her sorority because she stood on an elevated surface, went to a bar, and has a large social media following.
‘I wanted to come on here and talk to you guys about why I was kicked out of my sorority,’ she said before diving into the wild rules.
She began by explaining that her sorority, Alpha Phi, had a rule that stated she wasn’t allowed to stand on an elevated surface.
She said: ‘In your first three months of being in a sorority, you aren’t allowed to stand on elevated surfaces.’
‘So, I’m called into a J-board meeting, which is like a judicial board meeting, like a conduct meeting. And basically, they tell me that I was standing on an elevated surface, which I wasn’t allowed to do at the time,’ she said.
Sydney continued: ‘At parents’ weekend, a band pulls me up on stage and I go up there along with some other girls in my sorority, and I didn’t think much of it at the moment.’
The college student said that while she knew she couldn’t stand on specific elevated surfaces that fraternities presented, she didn’t think the stage counted as one.
In addition to not being able to stand on an elevated surfaces, Sydney revealed they were also told they couldn’t go to bars.
In a three-part series, Sydney revealed she was kicked out of her sorority because she stood on an elevated surface, went to a bar, and has a large social media following
The 20-year-old added that all of the other girls didn’t get kicked out and were just let off with a ‘warning’
‘So, you’re also not supposed to go to a bar during your first three months of being in a sorority.
‘But, for me, all of the older girls in the sorority had told me and my friends it was okay. They said, “We did it all last year, they don’t really care. It’s a rule but no one follows it, so it’s fine you can do it.”
‘We are so new to the sorority that like all these older girls are telling us that this is okay, and those are the girls we are looking up to so obviously we are going to listen to them,’ she explained.
Sydney said that someone had taken a picture of them and sent it to her sorority board.
So, the board then called Sydney and her friends in for individual meetings.
The 20-year-old added that all of the other girls didn’t get kicked out and were just let off with a ‘warning.’
She claimed that she was also dropped from Alpha Phi due to her ‘large following on social media.’
‘They go into the fact that I have a large following on social media, so I’m more of a liability than the other girls,’ she said.
The HBO documentary further exposed the shocking truth behind Panhellenic culture. Pledges seen on Bid Day 2022
The documentary follows multiple budding sorority members who bond through eating disorders and a hatred for mirrors. Pledges are seen during Bid Day 2022
In the last clip detailing why she was removed from her sorority, Sydney explained how she was kicked out of group messages before even receiving notice she was no longer a member.
She explained: ‘So I had my meeting, and they tell you that you have to wait three days to receive an email basically explaining your outcome.
‘Three days go by, and I haven’t received my email yet, I’m laying in bed, and I start getting a bunch of texts from my friends in the sorority and they are like, “Why did you just get removed from the group chat?”
Sydney added that she had no idea what was going on and began to ‘freak out’ because she had yet to receive an email.
She reached out to multiple executive members but heard nothing back.
The now 20-year-old college student then finally received the email letting her know she was no longer a member.
It read: ‘After a full review of the information presented during the hearing on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, the Beta Mu Judiciary Board committee voted by a minimum of three-fourths affirmative to terminate your membership with Alpha Phi.’
And while her experience in the social club was ‘short-lived,’ Sydney said she holds ‘no hate’ for any of the current members or for the sorority itself.
In the past, Ex members revealed the sisterhood community revolved around hatred, money and looks, with one member saying they even had their clothing brands checked
While people enjoyed watching #BamaRush play out on TikTok last year, it garnered some backlash for the school after viewers noticed that almost everyone who was rushing appeared to be white. Pledges are seen during Bid Day 2022
Many social media users flocked to the comments section of Sydney’s video to express how ‘ridiculous’ and ‘insane’ Greek Life was.
The HBO documentary further exposed the shocking truth behind Panhellenic culture.
The filmmaker of ‘Bama Rush’, Rachel Fleit, told Vice: ‘I wanted to create a documentary that was grounded in this culture, this Greek system, and it would serve as this lightning rod to talk about what it means to be a young woman.
‘We could talk about feminism, and we could talk about competition between women, body image, racism, sexism, classism, and sexual assault on campus or in general. There were all these big topics that I thought we could explore in the film by going into the Greek system. And we did.’
The documentary follows multiple budding sorority members who bond through eating disorders and a hatred for mirrors.
Viewers meet California-native Isabelle, who is longing for a sense of belonging and holds back tears as she shares that whispers from the girls’ locker room resulted in her developing an eating disorder.
She said: ‘The pain and anger and sadness don’t go away.’
On campus, people also meet Holliday who also shares a dislike for her looks and is seen running and doing squats before discussing her stretch marks.
Although the sororities promote a loving sisterhood, many of the comments shared that the majority of active members practiced fake niceties. Pledges seen during Bid Day 2022
Many discussed that the sisters ‘really hated each other’ and would often talk about everyone behind their backs, exhibiting very ‘cliquey’ behavior. Pledges are seen during Bid Day 2022
‘But like, they’re so beautiful, because it shows, like, that I’m overcoming something and growing,’ she said after deeply examining her cellulite.
Gracie O’Connor, who is also shown in the documentary, claimed that there was an extreme emphasis on looks. ‘
She suggested that sororities received their ranks based on how ‘hot’ the members were.
In the trailer, Gracie said: ‘The rankings come from fraternity boys. So the top house has the hottest girls.’
Also in the trailer, an unidentified woman claimed the University has a ‘prominent’ history of racism.
Another girl added: ‘The culture at Alabama is f***ing weird.’
Last year, DailyMail.com revealed that an active member even said that she was told to only recruit girls who ‘looked like the ones in the chapter already.’
Another ex member supported the fact that Greek Life is centered around looks when she shared they were forced to watch slideshows of the potential new members and the majority of the members would ‘laugh at the heavier girls.’
Many ex sorority members shared the reasons why they dropped the high exclusive sororities in a viral TikTok video
The comments regarding the budding sorority member’s appearances were unsurprising as Alabama only desegregated their sororities in 2013.
Furthermore, The majority of the chapters are filled with practically identical white women with blonde locks and fake tans.
Despite the segregation officially ending in 2013, things don’t seem to have gotten much better.
Makayla Culpepper, a fan favorite from season one, was reportedly dropped from every sorority just days after she revealed she was mixed race.
The University of Alabama student, who was initially accused of blackfishing, shared she was mixed race and just a few days later revealed she didn’t receive a bid from any of the sororities.
Although the University never revealed the reason why Makayla was dropped, many users speculated it was because of her race.
According to The Crimson White, University of Alabama sororities were about 89 per cent white in 2021, down only five per cent from 2011.
To help fight allegations of racism, the University is now reportedly requiring chapter members to complete diversity training in preparation for rush week.
