There is a frenetic female energy to sorority rush that is hard to overstate. It is one of frantic teens, pushy moms, demanding organizations and supercilious 'sisters'.
For generations, the annual bid to win places in coveted sororities has marked the lifeblood of colleges and universities where Greek life reigns supreme. But social media and reality shows have only recently brought the full magnitude of rush to wider audiences.
And there is an unlikely male voice at the center of it all, in the form of an Alabama lawyer and father-of-three who has carved an authoritative niche in the world of competitive sisterhood.
Some may know him as Coach Charming from his TLC show of the same title. Others may find Bill Alverson's life story vaguely familiar. After all, Netflix's two-season 2018 comedic drama 'Insatiable', about a Southern lawyer and pageant coach, was based on Alverson's own life and career.
The Alabama native has been coaching pageant queens and sorority hopefuls for far longer than most of his current clients have been alive.
So Alverson has had a front-row seat as the rush phenomenon has exploded.
'It really has been gradually increasing over the years, from way back in the Dark Ages when I went through rush, when my sister went through rush,' Alverson, now 64, tells the Daily Mail. 'I think since Covid, when people started being bored at home and posting everything about themselves, this naturally happened.'
Alabama lawyer Bill Alverson (left), 64, coaching a pageant client (right) in 2018. He has been a sorority rush consultant for decades
Alverson told the Daily Mail he coached 'Queen of RushTok' Kylan Darnell, who won Miss Ohio Teen USA in 2022
Alverson first started coaching pageant girls when his choir director asked him to help a local contestant who then went on to win.
This sparked a quickly-growing reputation that soon went national. He has coached Miss USA, Miss America and state pageant winners, juggling it with his legal work and sorority rush consulting.
'Rush kind of flatlined when everything went over video during the pandemic,' he says. But after the pandemic, students continued to post about the process on social media - changing the nature of the game forever.
'[The move to social media] has been gradual... but I think it's like the wave of the tsunami was built up, and now it's crashed and hit the beach,' Alverson says.
At the crest of that wave soared Kylan Darnell, a 'RushTok' superstar that Alverson himself coached to win 2022 Miss Ohio Teen USA.
While at the University of Alabama, Darnell’s social media chronicling of ‘Bama Rush’ has helped earn her a loyal legion of 1.3 million TikTok followers.
‘The two are very intertwined,’ Alverson says of pageants and sorority recruitment.
But what does he have to say to his critics?
‘You’ll hear negative comments like “Sororities are so outdated”. To which I ask: Are you a member of a bridge club, a knitting group, AA?
‘Ninety percent of us are “group people” of some type. And on campus, if you’re a member of a sorority, you will have a social life built in that you will not be excluded from.’
Bama Rush recruits are pictured this year. Social media and reality shows have exposed larger audiences to the traditional Southern extravaganzas
Alverson (pictured coaching a pageant contestant) told the Daily Mail: 'My girls, particularly my pageant girls that do sororities, get jobs when they graduate. They're already trained to communicate and talk to people'
Of course, sorority life doesn't come cheap. But Alverson explains that it can be a comfort to parents knowing their girls will be looked after while away from home.
'Instead of getting subways and sandwiches, you go to the sorority house and you're going to get a meal with two vegetables,' he explains.
The discipline of a sorority can also set you up for the future.
'My girls, particularly my pageant girls that do sororities, get jobs when they graduate. They're already trained to communicate and talk to people,' he says, equating the rush process to a 'first job interview'.
'People say you have to be rich and skinny to be in a sorority,' he adds. 'But you have to present yourself in the best possible way. If you're skinny and disheveled, that ain't gonna help you.'
Instead, he says, it is about being comfortable with who you are, presenting yourself well and recognizing what's holding you back.
Indeed, this is not something money can buy.
Though that's not to say uber-competitive parents won't try. Some fork out thousands for designer jewelry, dresses and private rush coaching to give their girls the best chance.
But Alverson insists that money will not land potential new members (PNMs) a space in a sorority.
Alverson advises that the most important things to consider in 2025 are making sure you have a polished social media presence (no drinking or provocative photos from high school) and not being 'a mean girl'.
‘You have to have a good resume,’ he says, adding that good grades and being a ‘quasi-stylist’ in the planning of your outfits will also help.
‘But probably the strongest thing that I think everybody needs to do is take a long, hard look in the mirror and wonder,“Why the hell am I doing this? Why am I going to college? What is my major?”
‘Know who you are.’