Bama Rush may have made RushTok the internet phenomenon it is today, but this fall, another Southern school’s standout recruitment season gave the sisters at the University of Alabama a run for their money. With eight nationally recognized Panhellenic chapters, roughly 20% of the student body participating in Greek life, and a six-day recruitment period that went absolutely viral this year, the College of Charleston dominated RushTok 2025. And the success was no accident.Â
In fact, CofC’s RushTok virality was months in the making, the payoff of academically informed marketing plans and professional-level social media strategy. But as with most colleges, the masterminds behind the scenes of your favorite CofC rush photo shoots and dance videos aren’t paid consultants who’ve been doing this for years. They’re college students just like everyone else — who have taken what they learned in class and in their sororities, and translated it into clicks and bids… and, maybe down the line, future career opportunities.
“Being in a sorority is truly like running a real-world marketing lab,” Hannah Hicken, senior communications major social media chair of Kappa Delta at CofC, tells Her Campus. “You get hands-on experience with campaign planning, social media strategy, event promotion, and leadership — all skills that directly translate to careers in communications, PR, and marketing.”Â
Through uniquely styled Instagram photo shoots and themed TikTok videos, Hicken’s desire to make her chapter stand out during recruitment certainly paid off. “Our very first shoot was such a hit and got so much engagement that I decided to keep going with the concept, and it quickly became one of our most recognizable marketing tools,” she says. “Our engagement went up over 700%!”Â
Grayson Parsely, communications major and president of Kappa Alpha Theta at CofC, had a similar approach, and she credits much of her org’s success this rush season to what she’s learned in school. “I’ve heard a lot [about authenticity in my] communication classes and my marketing classes,” she says.
While going viral is fun, it’s not the sole motivation behind all of these marketing tactics — finding the right PNMs are. “Going viral for sororities … brings attention to the actual sororities, and their philanthropies, and their sisterhoods, and what it means to them,” Parsley says. “There were a few trends going around that a bunch of sororities were doing on TikTok that if I was a PNM, I’d be like, Oh, my gosh, I want to be in this sorority. I want those friends. I want those people.” Hicken adds, “Recruitment is the first impression PNMs get of our chapter, and TikTok is where they’re already spending their time. Creating content that’s approachable and entertaining allows us to reach them authentically.”
But the impact of the school’s viral success on RushTok this year reached more than just PNMs; it shaped how the world sees sorority life at the Colllege of Charleston. “Seeing people talk about College of Charleston’s recruitment on a national level has been surreal, and it’s also motivating,” Hicken says. “It pushes me to keep raising the bar and make sure our content reflects the energy and personality of our chapter.”Â
Many sorority women involved in their chapter’s recruitment marketing aren’t just doing it as a hobby; they’re thinking long term. Hicken, for example, is creating a professional portfolio to showcase the best-performing posts and engagement data from Kappa Delta’s socials, with the goal of leveraging her experience to start a career in digital marketing or public relations.Â
Parsley is also aligning her sorority experience with her professional goals. “There are so many real applicable skills that you learn,” she says. And as for those who don’t see her work during recruitment as serious professional success? “Never, ever strip yourself of an accomplishment just because of other people’s opinion; [it] will lead you to success in professional settings.”
Plus, as Hicken puts it, “The results speak for themselves.”