Problematic Sorority Recruitment Video?
 

If this thread is moved or deleted, as someone who has been on this site for well over a decade, I would like a private message explaining that decision.

I got this question on another website I moderate as well as in a facebook message: Do any of you all have any thoughts/opinions about the U of Alabama Alpha Phi sorority recruitment video?

Here is my response:

Thanks for reminding me to watch the video.

As I watched it, I was like oh, a white sorority recruitment video. I’ve seen a million of these. Pretty girls, big houses, generic pop music–nothing to see here.

I don’t think you should criticize a sorority that is all white for having their own members in a recruitment video. That’s how these things work. You have who you have and you use them. I also had no issue with the bikinis and shorts. I know that’s not something black sororities would do, but c’est la vie.

HOWEVER,

I neither understood nor liked the random use of the football player. I did not know who he was, but I did find him attractive and he had cheekaleeks which is always a plus. But the message of the video DRAMATICALLY changes for me when you insert the black athlete.

It goes from “tee hee we’re in a sorority watch us be cute” to “Watch us use this black body as a prop.”

I think you shouldn’t use nonmembers in recruitment videos at all (except parents) and that scene was problematic for me as a person of color. Absent that one thing, I had no other strong reactions.

I, too, saw this on another site. I wondered if I had just missed it on GC or if it had been removed.

Obviously you are not a college football fanatic or you would have understood why he was there.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=152826

Posted last week.

You are so rude. Please leave me alone.

I missed that, thank you very much.

Man, I wish I had seen that thread before it got closed. I am late and out of the loop. lol

I originally laughed at that Alpha Phi video. It's a *recruitment video* not a treatise on life. It's a video of pretty college girls having fun. Now Greeks are, once again, having to justify their existence. Normally I'd brush it off, but then it's creeped onto my FB TL by non-Greek friends and on TV shows. News alert! College kids party and not just Greeks.

I always point out the philanthropy involvement, graduation stats, GPA stats, etc. When Jane Doe independant does something stupid, it's no biggie. If Jane Doe, member of XYZ, does something stupid it makes national news. That mere recruitment vid (yes, it's made to ENTICE co-eds to join--news alert :eek:) has gone viral and made us have to justify ourselves again. :(

/rant

I'm not a fan of the over produced, glossy, drone heavy recruitment videos in general. They've become a cliché at this point, in my opinion. This style didn't pop up out of nowhere, I suspect wedding videos and what I call "rich family" photos were the starting ground. It'll die out eventually, hopefully replaced by something I like better.

Well, it does have it all - dancing, glitter, piggy backs. I had to laugh a little.

Sen, I couldn't agree more.

If you put a male of any sort in a recruitment video (other than large scale shots of Greek week etc) and he isn't a chapter sweetheart or connected in some way, it's a bad idea. If it's a prestigious for whatever reason male with no connections, it's an even worse idea. And if the prestigious male with no connections happens to be black and everyone shown in the sorority video is white, that amps it up to a whole other level of bad idea.

I'll ask again - who are these videos FOR??

Would it be okay if they used a white football player? I really don't think APhi and Drake gave a second thought to how it would look in terms of "race and diversity", so I'm not sure why the rest of the world is.

If you look at that video and all you take away is a message about race that's your presumption. It's something you are noticing.

Bama is a huge football school so they asked a player to be in the video. He agreed. What's the big deal?

If a guy (regardless of color) is just in there because he's a football player (or student senate president or in a popular fraternity) and has zero connection to the chapter, it kind of looks like they paid him to show up and appear just to look like they know the right people. Chapters are told up and down not to discuss boys during recruitment, I don't understand how this is any different.

Who exactly started the "outrage" about this? I didn't see any source of the outrage; just the thinkpieces/"news" stories saying that there was an outrage.

As a sidebar -- wasn't Bama the school that had the big PR push to show "yay we accept the blacks" a year or two ago?

If you* are able to go through life without noticing race, that's a privilege.

*I mean the general you, not Nanners specifically.

You say that like it's a bad thing! :)

Whoever he was, he was probably like 99% of male, hetero college guys: "Appear in a video with 72 hot women in Daisy Dukes? Sign me up!"

Sen, I mentioned in the deleted thread that the Alpha Phi video was probably done by the same person who produced Elle Woods' Harvard Law School admissions video in "Legally Blonde". Definite similarities!

I already explained why it was problematic to me. I am not going to engage whether it would be okay if they used a white football player because they did not.

I agree with that, too. But I don't want to ignore that they chose to use a black man as an accessory (1) and that there are no black women in the video (2).

But Nanners specifically also.

I still have not seen Legally Blonde oops

I'd send you the link but I can't access YouTube at my office. Like I said, it's similar to the Alpha Phi video but without the girls blowing glitter

When I read "Diary of a Sorority House Mom" by Ann Hyman, she mentions that another chapter on their campus (Berkeley) would have some sisters go blonde before recruitment.

Just a rant (not geared toward anyone here but in comments I've seen elsewhere)... Why does everyone assume these women have extensions? I've been accused of having them when the hair on my head is all my own. No, I didn't come with the color (I'm a brunette who colors it auburn), but the hair is what came out of my scalp. :D

Back on topic, I don't think guys belong in a sorority recruitment vid unless it's some large shot of Greek week (like another poster here said).

LOLz, I guess the vid is sort of "Legally Blonde" like.

For the sake of comparison, here's Bama AXO's recruitment vid:
https://youtu.be/Zn8gu2ATAIg

Racial issues aside
 

I was seriously creeped out by the number of old men fervently defending this on Facebook.

Seriously girls, these get out, and your dad's friends watch it over and over. Eww.

It got closed because Hartofsec was flaming the women in the video.

My take on it: Yes, it is a little risque', but it achieves its goal - attract PNMs for recruitment.

As for the Black male football player - it does not bother me that he is there since the scenes with him are in the football stadium. So, he is in the context in which we would see him. 99% of the football players in the SEC are black males.

Also note that the mascot is in the video too.

Maybe this video has two purposes: (1) recruit for the A Phi chapter at Bama, and (2) recruit for Bama in general by highlighting the football player, stadium and mascot. Southern schools with a winning national football team tend to have higher student enrollment overall.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction and a social media over-reaction.

Here is my take. Upfront I will say I am married to a minister. I have always been very conservative. I rolled my eyes at the video, as did my teens. Not because we were offended but because of the silliness-we tend to be more on the serious side. Show me what sisterhood is.

However, I don't think it was something that should have been taken down nor do I see that Alabama had to issue an apology. It was a video like many others, a marketing tool designed to get like minded women to be interested in them. I am quite sure it worked. If I had gone through recruitment, it would have helped me think about the chapter and what it was like.

Was there diversity? No, but that is an issue that is changing at Alabama and in the south, slowly for sure. But to say it was unempowering seems silly. I know plenty of 18-20 year olds, as well as women my age (50) who are girly, feminine, and strong and capable.

Much ado about nothing to me.

How did A Phi do during rush? UA's rush has ended, right?

I was told they did quite well. :)

I always think it wise to look at the target market for any commercial, which is actually what this is - it is advertising a chapter by marketing to a very specific demographic (not the creepy guy one). It was undoubtedly designed to appeal to the 18 - 22 year old women going through recruitment at Bama. In much the same way I am completely flummoxed by advertising obviously not targeting me (the examples are legion, but I always think back to the hamsters driving a toaster - what?), those who are not in the demographic targeted may well scratch their head at the appeal. As to how Alpha Phi did - I believe it was over 140+ in the new member class. So, in that case, it was a success.

Admittedly, in the larger scheme of things, the negative publicity is not good for the whole of the sorority system, but then again, those who are heaping scorn are not those who were supportive of the system before the video received all this attention. I think there were those who had an axe to grind with Bama, and on the heels of last year's brouhaha they went looking for a story. Since over 200 WOC accepted bids, that dog wouldn't hunt this year, so off they went, finding something to protest - a video no better or worse than any Victoria Secret's ad.

The proof of the pudding is in the tasting, so let's look at the impact all this had on the Greek system:

Very little.

I would hope that chapters will think long and hard before 1. making these videos (I am not a fan) and 2. making the videos public if they do use them for recruitment.

Most of the outrage is from folks who didn't go to a college with Greeks (may have never met any of them either) or stereotype the system. They already hated us. lol

I agree with Senusret's assessment about the athlete. When that part came up I was like "What is this about?"

A friend of mine posted on Facebook what I think the other concern really is by saying something like "I never understood where these stereotypes of sorority women came from until I saw this video." I'm sure this is not the only chapter in the country with a video like this. I'm not sure it tells anything about the sisterhood or values of the organization... unless it does (which might be more upsetting). It doesn't reflect my sorority experience in any way so it seems quite foreign to me.

When I think about what we tell the PNMs about what to wear for recruitment, we always say "not too short" "not too much cleavage" "you're dressing to impress women, not men". This video is doing the opposite of all of that advice. I don't know what a 19 year old me would think watching it. I don't see it impressing the college age women I know well.

I wouldn't bash the chapter that did it. But I would say I don't think it's the best or most accurate way to portray our organizations to the public.

Agree with the bolded.

I find myself wondering what it says to women who are going to rush at other schools. It may speak to the personality of one chapter, but does it portray something the organization wants portrayed overall?

Frankly, I despise these videos, so I haven't watched it. The fact it's generating controversy makes me wonder what APhi's members throughout the rest of the country think.

I said something similar in mods' corner. I'd hate to think a young woman at my alma mater (or yours for that matter) would choose not to rush because she doesn't feel she fits this mold. And, to go the other way, I'd hate for a woman at Alabama to not rush if she saw a rush video from MY school and didn't feel she fit the mold. I know that people should be able to understand that all Greek systems are different, but when the media is slamming one particular example in your face, you might begin to question whether that's really true.

A few years back I had a fight with a poster on this very board where she was insisting that sorority rush is no different than any other kind of marketing. Now this poster was a sketchy mono and a perp but besides all that, she was wrong. When forever 21 tries to get you to buy a sweater, they're not promising that sweater will be with you for the rest of its life. They're not promising that sweater will make you a better person. I will never forget what one of the collegian from one of our other chapters (supposedly a "party all the time, don't give a crap about anything else" chapter) wrote to me when my chapter closed - she said " these letters are not an advertisement, they mean something."

I heard (and I emphasize "heard" -- not from an official source or published statement) that the creepish internet comments on the girls in the video "raised awareness" regarding the potential for social media stalking upon publication of names, and that this influenced Admin's decision to no longer publish bid lists.

I did some serious amount of watching last night of other sorority recruitment videos across the country, in response to the complaints geared towards Alpha Phi of Alabama, and I've concluded that it's much ado about nothing.

There are countless recruitment videos, many whose members which are predominately white, blow glitter out of their hands and sit in circles - heads towards the sky - holding hands and laughing, with glide-camera takes every thirty-seconds and drone shots above. After seeing numerous videos of similar editing and style I sort of got cross-eyed.

Yes, the video was shallow. Yes, the video was of all white girls. Yes, it's Alabama. Yes, it's greek life.

In a very amusing fashion, a good number of people are dismissing the complaints and saying things like, "Gosh darn these girls are beautiful!" And rightfully so. The hullabaloo over this is just evidence of the media's idiocy of being PC.

The media and its enables are trying to play the "Greek life is damaging to America! It's an archaic institution that should be abolished!" and "Not an ounce of diversity shown :mad:" cards. Guess what, I was the only minority in my fraternity. Did I say quietly to myself "Where are my people?" No.

Well put -- exactly.

If these videos are de rigueur at other schools, perhaps we should be wondering if they should be, rather than justifying the trend.

I think this one blew up because of the campus it occurred on (plenty of past and present criticism regarding stereotypes and diversity) and the internet places it where it landed. Didn't surprise me really -- but the extent of the explosion did.

Of possible interest -- an interview with the author of the article at the epicenter of the controversy:

Alabama Alpha Phi sorority video columnist A.L. Bailey reacts to uproar for the first time

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/201...deo_colum.html

That makes sense. While it used to be a good way to see where local girls went--and, in some cases, the only way I'd find out if any of my Recs actually worked their magic--there's far too much scrutiny at Alabama right now for that to continue. It's not like you can always tell someone's ethnic background from their name, but the less potentially negative attention, the better.

Okay, I about peed my pants laughing when I read the firework comment, and it got sillier from there. Someone has delusions of grandeur is all I can say. I also love how she presents herself as a feminist but made sure to mention her husband and children over and over and over again. So we know, you know, that she was chosen.

Ol girl got mad that someone called her a prude AND a prune!

I also like that she qualified that she only moved to Alabama in 1998. Just trifling.