#BaylorRush has gone viral on TikTok; featuring unique fashion, Greek life

By Katy Mae Turner | Photographer

In August 2021, #BamaRush at the University of Alabama took over the internet. Many prospective recruits (PNM) will record videos showing their outfits and talk about the week-long recruiting process, allowing anyone with little or no knowledge of how sororities work to see the process from the inside.

During Baylor’s spring hiring in January 2022, snowballing in the #BamaRush craze months earlier, #BaylorRush on TikTok is getting more and more popular. With over 32.4 million views, the hashtag grew beyond the Baylor community and became a viral phenomenon across multiple social media platforms.

Videos from #BaylorRush on TikTok have attracted mixed reviews due to their wide range of opinions and understanding of trends. Over the last few years, making videos has provided entertainment not only for people going through recruiting, but also for those watching from virtual sidelines around the world.

Charlotte, NC sophomore Katie Boatwright was part of the #BaylorRush success of 2022 when she and her friend, sophomore Cypress Sara Bothe, created videos before their brotherly rounds show their clothes. Once they returned home later that day, they realized that the video was getting more views than they expected.

“I came back home that day and saw that it had exploded, it was just a quick one-shot video,” Boatwright said. “I thought the whole thing was funny and some of the comments were quite creative.”

Boatwright’s videos currently have over 4.1 million views, 314,600 likes and 13,200 comments.

Former Baylor Panhellenic External Relations and Engagement Coordinator Mikayla Olson won’t be missing out on the fun of TikTok as a new alum. Now boasting over 110,000 views, he’s doing a series where he ranked the theme of the week’s chapters based on their Instagram posts.

“To be honest, I just wanted to do a silly little TikTok because while I was at Baylor, it was just going to be something I talked to my friends about all week,” said Olson. “Since graduating, all my friends are scattered, so I’ll send them my TikTok and we’ll chat about it.”

With these videos going viral, users on social media have mixed opinions — some are good, some are not.

“I spent $600 on a rush dress for my southern SEC culture, and these girls can wear the dress I wore at age 10 and walk in?” TikTok user @thoughtswgracie said. “If I wore this in Mississippi I would be laughed at from the building.”

Potential Baylor students also use this week’s visibility to see current students and learn more about Baylor.

“They all wore these terrible clothes; I have never seen so many female TikToks on my For You page who all have these outfits,” TikTok user @cookiedooughlavacake said, who was recently accepted into the Baylor class of 2027. “What happened at Waco?”

Others had more flattering comments, pointing out that fashion is all about style and one’s personal opinion.

“I don’t understand why TikTok hates all of these Baylor RushTok girl outfits; like, at least they have an original style,” Twitter user @marciac95_ said.

TikTok user @jessicapeltzman came to defend many PNM outfits.

“They wear unique things and experiment with fashion,” he said. “These girls go to college, okay? They are still learning about their style.”

Many different schools do sorority recruitment, so why has Baylor become so popular? Olson says Baylor’s unique approach to recruiting is what makes him stand out.

“Greek life is very different at Baylor compared to other schools – we have spring recruitment, no houses, strong religious influence and in particular, Baylor’s vernacular and fashion trends,” says Olson.