University of Alabama Recruitment 2007

[magnoliacurious]

Originally Posted by Gung-Ho-Chi-O

Hello Dgdramadawg!

Ah, the whole "Old Row/New Row" thing...

I think Kappa was just simply left off the list... surely just an oversight! Kappa, although I'm not an alumna, is most definitely Old Row at Alabama!

Even though a previous poster said Old Row was a matter of longevity on campus -- please don't take this as me being snarky -- I believe Old Row is more a matter of "social distinction."

In my day, Alpha Chi Omega & Phi Mu were either "in" or "out" (I sound like Heidi Klum) of Old Row based on their favor with the "machine."

For instance, I have heard Phi Mu backed its own candidate for a machine-related position & the next year they were not invited to Lake Party... so they were not "On Old Row" that year. (Didn't this involve Minda Riley, a cross burning and CNN? Don't ask me for details... google it!)

I'm trying to be lighthearted about this, and I think maybe we should stop the discussion regarding old vs new row. Even though it is uniquely Alabama, it can also be a devisive issue since some folks also call it "top five" which obviously leaves a good many out...

Let's focus on positive on the forum, eh?

I remember visiting Alabama the week before the 93' Tennessee game, and was talking to some student who worked at a campus bookstore about the Minda Riley incident, and I remember him saying (apparently trying to discredit her) "her own sorority sisters didn't back her, they backed the machine." Also, I remember reading about the same thing in an archived news article. For what that's worth.

[magnoliacurious]

Originally Posted by magnoliacurious

I remember visiting Alabama the week before the 93' Tennessee game, and was talking to some student who worked at a campus bookstore about the Minda Riley incident, and I remember him saying (apparently trying to discredit her) "her own sorority sisters didn't back her, they backed the machine." Also, I remember reading about the same thing in an archived news article. For what that's worth.

Oh, I definitely agree that it's good to focus on the positive on this board, sorry if what I just posted took away from that, just got up and haven't gotten down my morning coffee, just trying to be informative; didn't think it all the way through!

[Football Fan]

Magnoliacurious,
For those of us not familiar with Greek life at Alabama please explain what is "The Machine".

[Fleur de Lis]

Originally Posted by Football Fan

For those of us not familiar with Greek life at Alabama please explain what is "The Machine".

I was curious about "the machine" as well so I googled it. Here is an informative link on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I just read the wikipedia article after googling Minda Riley. I have never been so disgusted by college activities in my life. All the racial tensions and exclusion sounds plain awful. I can't believe people put so much effort into controlling other people. I know that everything is calculated in greek life, but that is just extreme.

[triplefigs]

I was a student at Bama from 1987-1992 when all of the BIG Machine stuff happened (Bama Bino, Minda Riley). That article doesn't even begin to touch on what was happening at Bama.