The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Dirty Rush: Pig Runs, Overbearing Parents, and Hopeful Pledges Are Hermes Belts and Gucci Shoes Required?

Episode Date: August 9, 2025

Crying, Screaming, Hermes Belts and Gucci shoes…and that’s just the beginning. A sorority mom dishes on the dirty ritual known as ‘The Pig Run’ at SMU.  Revelations about Bid Day trauma and how the news media celebrated the cruelty and the chaos. Call us at 844-278-RUSH (844-278-7874) Follow Dirty Rush on Instagram and TikTok.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to Dirty Rush, the truth about sorority life with your host, me, Gia Judice, Daisy Kent, and Jennifer Fessler. Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of Dirty Rush. I am super excited for this episode. We have another amazing guest coming on and sharing their story. So let's get into it. I'm actually particularly excited for this episode.

episode because it's not a sorority girl, it's a sorority girl's mom. Oh. And I am dying to hear your perspective, Krista, hello. Hi there. No, I really am excited to talk to you. We all are, but we want to know from you, your experience, and maybe not your particular experience, but the experience that you've gone through as a mother of a girl going through the process of rush.

Well, first off, I want to be. clear. I was in a sorority. So, yeah, right. I'm not only a mom, but I was in a sorority myself, which was 400 years ago back in the day when it was easy to get in and you got in. It was whether or not you wanted to be in. And now as a mom to three girls, we've all joined sororities, my perspective is completely different. And it's been such a different experience, being on the other side and seeing how difficult it is today and actually how brutal it is. So as a mom, I would never do it myself now, but I'm proud of my girls for going through such an ugly process to get to the other side. Can you tell us a little bit about what their experience was and what made it so ugly?

Before you start, if I could ask, where did you go to school? So I went to a small school in Northern California called University of Pacific. We had, I think, only four sororities, and they were all probably great. You know, you had your top tier. You thought one was the best one and one was a set. But everyone had a different opinion. I was in the best one. But, you know, it was a whole different period where you just, I felt like it was up to me to choose, not up to them to choose me.

Love that. Which is probably as it should be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't like that with your daughters. Yeah. Where did your daughters go?

You wanted to know about the girls. So my oldest. girl, daughter, went to a school in the South. I'd rather not name it, but it is in Dallas. And it was well known for having a particularly brutal sorority rush, very competitive. There was a book written about it called, I believe, pledged, written by an undercover reporter who went through rush at the school. And for decades, they've done something called the pig run. And it's called the pig run because the girl. girls who make it to the very last night, and that is few and far between hundreds and

hundreds are cut, and it's not a huge school, so in that, you know, that percentage seems very high at the time because they have very limited spots for the sororities, but either way on the bid day night, they do it at nighttime, they have the girls sit on an envelope and they, you know, tell them that whatever happens when they open that envelope, they're either going to get what they want, not get what they want, or not get anything at all, But either way, they must stand up, line up, and then they run from that door through the middle of campus where they are filmed by local TV stations. The entire community comes out. All of the moms are there for rush.

That's one of the weird things about the school is the moms attend rush. I've never heard of that before. But you have girls sobbing and crying because they didn't get a house. You have girls crying because they didn't get the house they want. And then you have girls who are elated because they got their dream house. and all of it happens at once and all of them run together, the crying, the laughing, the screaming,

parents ever cry. I honestly think that that should be illegal. These girls are the sobbing girls, they're all dressed the same in white t-shirts and the boys throw like water balloons at them and spray them. And I mean, it's called the pig run for a reason. And I can't think of anything worse. Were you there?

Did you like watch? I went and after that told anyone I knew whose daughter went there not to go because I had such a bad experience but at the same time it's so hard on these girls that having your mom there probably is nice so I don't know what the right answer is.

For me it was I mean I had PTSD for weeks after I was depressed, I was crying it's so weird now to look back on how seriously I took it but my daughter didn't get the house she initially wanted but she ended up getting the house she should have gotten it just was

she didn't know what she was doing and she got a house but I have plenty of her friends didn't get anything. And they still had to run. And if she hadn't gotten anything, it probably would have been worse than it was. But it was altogether probably one of the worst experiences I've ever seen in my life. There are reporters there, like recording these girls that are devastated? Local TV stations just because it's such a fun event. And it's a tradition. And, you know, they all do it. And it's been going on for, like I said, decades. They used to call it U-Haul day because tuition wasn't due until the day after rush.

So if a girl didn't make a sorority, then she would quit school, load the U-Haul, and drive off. But now they moved a tuition date to right before you here whether or not you got a sorority. And actually, I heard recently they may have moved sorority rush to second semester, which was probably a little bit better because girls, or back to first semester, I can't remember which one they moved it to.

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and of course, the fabulous Lake Tahoe, where we are recording this episode inside a gorgeous verbo. Finding these deals is simple with the last-minute booking filter, an industry first for vacation rentals, discounted vacation rentals are also labeled with a last minute badge that displays the total amount travelers can save on their booking. Plus, travelers never have to second guess the total cost or worry about hidden fees. Verbo displays all mandatory fees in the upfront price. I feel like just going to those extents is crazy because I went to Rutgers University. So Big Ten, And the Greek life wasn't nearly as big as it was in the South. But we had something similar, but it wasn't similar at all.

Like, we were all in a, I guess, auditorium. And we opened up our envelopes and saw which sorority house we got into. And then the sorority house that we got into, everyone ran home. So you would run home to your houses. But it wasn't like there were any acts of, malicious intent being thrown in our faces or at least not to my knowledge that I remember that that was happening. I mean, definitely no news channels outside. There was not other fraternity brothers throwing water balloons at us. Like that's just another level. Yeah,

that's how mine was too. Like it wasn't to that extreme. We still have the reveal. Yeah. It was like, it was just like girls. And then if you didn't get in one, you didn't like see everyone else. I think they had us like run. I'm like trying to remember. They had us like run through in groups. Like if I was an alpha fee, so I ran through with all the girls that got LFPB. Did your daughter, because she, you said she got one, did she end up staying in that and did she end up liking it or no? I think she liked it for a little while. After a while, she didn't like it. But the crazy thing was it was such a big deal to get into certain houses. And, you know, some of them were overly hyped up. And at the end of the day, after it was all over, she still hung out with the girls in

different houses. They all hung out together. It wasn't like it was changing their life for the better or worse, depending on which house they got in. I think that was a huge lesson for me and hopefully for her, but that it didn't matter. It didn't matter. If you got into a house, you didn't get in a house, you got in the top house, you got in the second top house or at the end of the day. They all hung out together anyway. Yeah. Tell us about the dynamics. First of all, what do the mothers do? They're there for what? The week? Yeah, it's a pretty short process as opposed to say Indiana, another one of my kids went, which goes on for about six weeks, I think. This was about a week. And you check into a hotel. So all the moms stay in a hotel. And we're originally from

California. And so I didn't know about rush coaches at the time. But when I checked into the hotel, I noticed there were racks of clothes coming in and makeup artists and tanning people. And people were saying, oh, when's your rush coach coming? And I'm like, oh, shoot, rush coach. So that's, that was lesson to learn about the process in the South. They take it very seriously. If you don't mind me asking, how long ago was this? I graduated two years. Okay, see, I graduated two years ago and I, this is like a different language. I've never heard of this in my life. Okay, maybe it's in the South, but I know that it's also at Indiana. They have rush coaches. So I don't know. These rush coaches start girls as early as eighth grade teaching them how to get through the rush process,

what they need to get into, quote-unquote, a top-to-your-house or whatever house they are eating. I'm going to puke a little in my mouth. I can't. I can't. Listen, I was in a sorority. I know how wonderful the experience can be. And I know you guys loved it.

Once I was in, I, you know, you make lifelong friends, all of that. But you're killing me here with the mothers, with the racks of clothes and hairdressers. And whoa, that's a lot. And it's a lot of money. But how did you feel about it when you, like, was your daughter like, Mommy, where are my clothes? You know, what was that like for you? I think it was so mind-blowing because part of me was thinking, we're not falling for

this stuff, this is stupid, I'm not doing it. And part of me was thinking, while we really miss the boat, I need to get her a pair of Gucci shoes immediately. And if I don't go to the airmaid's belt, she's not going to make the house. Right. You start thinking crazy thoughts. I mean, we didn't get her the airma's belt. We didn't get her shoes.

But I was thinking, have I screwed my daughter out of this happiness for the rest of her life? And I'm thinking, if I'm getting wrapped up. like that in a week. What is it doing to the girls? It's like I have friends that made the decision not to hire college counselors. We did do that and then look back on it. Like maybe my kid would have gotten into their first choice had I spent the $5,000. I don't know. But this, it's so interesting that I could see that you would feel both like, you know, just nauseated and at the same time pressured to do it. Right. Right. Right. Because I feel like at the same time, you know, watching the other parents do it, you don't want to fail your daughter.

Right. And you don't want to let your daughter down. But in retrospect, looking back at it, I mean, I know you realize that it's obviously insane and completely. Oh, for sure. And luckily, she was my first. So I think after the trauma passed and I realized, oh my God, I think I just went a little crazy, as did my daughter. when the next one went through us, I mean, I was so nervous for her that I made her a care package to open every single day. Like, you're going to do great. And we love you no matter what. And she's like, are you insane? She opened up each package and was like, what is this for? She sailed straight through, had all her top choices, was like, I don't know what you're talking about.

And it was great. So then by the time I got to my third, I thought, well, I'm not going to do the care. That's stupid. I don't need to worry. It's obviously it was just the southern schools. And it ended up, the year my daughter went through sorority rush at IU, it was, it ended up being the most difficult rush in America that year. And thousands of kids were cut. And many, many kids transferred and it was a really, it went viral on TikTok and she didn't make a house.

And she ended up making a house the next time around. But I was, once again, I felt like I had failed her. I felt like a failure. I felt sad for her. They missed out on her because she's amazing, but it was just too many numbers. She didn't know anyone. She came from California.

There aren't a lot of Californians, and she didn't stand a chance at the beginning. And I'm like, here we go again. Should I have done the other stuff? Oh, my God. That's a lot. That is a lot. And how does she handle the rejection?

I think once you realize that literally over a thousand kids had been cut in the final round. she felt a lot better and she knew other people who had been cut and I think it took a while. I mean, she was pretty sad in the beginning, but I think she was able to rationalize that she really knew nobody and if you don't know people in the houses, it's difficult to get in the houses and she needed to meet people and so she did and she's now happy and she's living in her sorority and this year and it's all good. But I think we thought that would be an easy school and I do think that when she chose it, she chose it because she was never going to go to a Southern school where it was really difficult.

So, I mean, her brothers were in fraternities and some of them in the South, the boys who went to the Southern schools, that was pretty brutal too. That was dirty rushing. You're in before the rush even starts. They've already decided their entire pledge class weeks before the schools announced, welcome to fraternity rush. It's done. You're already out. From social media? If you don't know, you don't know.

Is it from social media that they choose? No, they fly out all summer long to the parties. But if you don't know and you weren't invited and you don't know who to talk to to to be invited, you would show up and there would be no room for you in any of the fraternies because they already spent the whole summer rushing people. Wow. And supposedly the girls do it too now. And I think that was the lesson we missed is it starts before it starts.

I mean, listen, ladies. you didn't go to college in the South. I did, but like Krista, about 10 million years ago, and my mother didn't even know what a sorority was, and I'm happy for it. I cannot imagine. And I, my daughter went to Delaware. There was none of this.

She rushed during COVID. I feel for you, sister. Not easy. I feel for the girls. I mean, I think it's getting worse and not better from what I'm hearing. I mean, because of TikTok with Alabama. and all of the dances and the overhyping of it. And it's just the end all to be all.

But the end of the day, it's a great thing. It fills a niche. You get to meet people, make friends, hopefully friends for life. But many girls end up quitting well before their senior year. I mean, it's not what they thought it was going to be or they got enough out of it along the way already made their friends or they can't afford it or whatever the reason. Yeah. And I think that all plays into it 100%.

I think that all plays into it because once you, go through at least first and second semester in that first year of receiving your big and going through bid day and having all these happy moments, you come to the realization of, okay, I have my friend group. I know my way around. I can get into the parties. Everything is fine. And then people do realize, okay, maybe this isn't worth the money or this isn't worth the time or I don't want to keep going to these activities or schools picking up. There's so many aspects of it. Or I don't like The rules, because there are a lot of rules. Yeah.

100%. There's so many. I dropped my senior year. Where so many people drop before graduating. Well, so I only had one more class to take because I was like ahead because of high school. But then I was like, I really, like I have all my friends. I don't really need it. It was also COVID.

and they were trying to make me pay. I was going abroad junior year. I actually dropped to the end of my junior year because I was going abroad and I got someone to fill my spot in the house and they were still trying to make me pay for my spot in the house. And I was like, okay, I'm out. It's also just silly for the long run when you do drop after spending all that money for so many years because then you don't put it on your resume.

I mean, you could, but then if they contact your sorority, it's like, well, she's no longer a member. But how much do you really think? I mean, I was a recruiter out of college and hired people for jobs. There wasn't one person I hired because they were in a sorority. Do people do that now? Do they call the sorority? I don't know.

I'm asking. I've never heard of that. I don't know. Do you? Putting it on your resume, I know people do. I think the biggest thing also people say to join a sorority is to put it on your resume. Really? And then especially if joining a sorority, if you did something for exec, then that also looks really good. Yeah.

Okay. So then there's certain things. things that obviously look good for your resume. But I'm really sorry that you had all of those experiences with your daughters. I mean, that's definitely not easy as a mom. I know that my mom would probably not know what to do with her. My mom wouldn't know what to do with herself. But what do you think was the difference between your second daughter and then your first and your third? Where did your second daughter go to school? So second door went to Boulder. I think it's just a much more relaxed rush experience, but she had something like 125, 130 girls in her pledge class.

So they take a lot more girls. You don't obviously all have the opportunity to live in the house. It's a lot bigger. I don't think she'll ever know the names of all the people in her pledge class, whereas my first daughter was probably like 40 or 50 girls in her pledge class, and my youngest daughter was probably only 25. So just completely different experiences across the board, different schools. You know, we're talking the South, you know, Boulder, Colorado, and then Indiana.

So such different locations. The Boulder Girl knew a ton of people because a lot of kids from California go there. So she had a leg up just with that, with knowing people, which I think is the number one thing you need going into a sorority. Because then you can have people vouch for you during the recruitment process. We are thrilled that you are, you've joined us. And it's such a great insight. to hear not only, you know, the running of the pigs or whatever. What is it called?

The pig run. That horrible, horrible name, but just telling, just sharing because I think that a lot of our listeners are going to be able to relate, not feel quite so alone. But then I think a lot of our new listeners coming on are going to be so grateful to hear your story because this is really going to help a lot of, you know, upcoming freshmen and just girls that are thinking about rushing and it'll maybe make a break where they choose to go to school because it's a lot of pressure. And even moms too. Well, and I think that the takeaway though, no matter where they go to school is that it always works out in the end. These, these girls,

maybe that school wasn't right from if they end up transferring or the story they didn't get into wasn't right for them. The one they did get into ended up being the best place for them. It, it seems to always work out. You can rush again. You can transfer and rush. I mean, there are many options. And so I don't think putting all your eggs in one basket is the way to go. Listen to what this very wise woman is saying, listeners, please. Say it one more time. Which part, don't put all your eggs in one basket. No.

Everything will work itself out. On that note, thank you for coming on. Thank you so much. You're welcome, ladies. Have a great day. You too. Thank you so much. I would never want my daughter to experience or go through that.

I also just think that's a horrible experience in general to go through sorority rush like that. I feel like that just paints such an image that you need to be at this standard to be accepted. Yeah. What if you can't afford an Hermes belt or Gucci sides or Gucci sandals,

your mom is supposed to feel obligated to go and get that for you to make you get into a sorority? I mean, I said to her, it's just the most bogus thing I've ever heard in my life. I said, your mom, your mom, Daisy, your mom, me as a mom, I would become so incensed if my daughter, if they were running and my daughter was running at it, it would get violent. I would become, I would lose my mind.

100%. Right? 1,000%. But then even just seeing the pressure of being in a hotel room and seeing other moms come in with all of this stuff, I completely understand what she was saying, feeling the pressure of, oh, should I have gotten her this? Or should I have gotten her a makeup artist? like that is just not sorority rush that is like that is the craziest thing in the world I'm glad that wasn't either one of your experiences no it's almost to me it kind of seems like maybe like the moms are the one that's making it so insane I agree because then also I mean look at these pageant moms yeah these daughters grow up doing pageants it's not the daughter's

choice. I mean, yeah, okay, they get, you know, I'm sure they're excited to get in their costumes and the glitz and the glam, but like toddlers and tiaras. Yeah. Their mothers are more invested than their children. Yeah, I am so on board with that. I think that also I wanted my daughter when she was going through it to know that I didn't give two sheds. Like, I wanted her to understand that she thought that this was everything. And I thought it was, having been in a sorority especially, it was not important. It was, it would have been, I knew that it was going to be nice for her, a great way to meet people, but certainly, like, not the end all be all. I would think that that would make the girls feel more pressure. 100%.

Yeah. For sure. And I think, too, like, coming into freshman year, like, it is so scary and everything is so new. And to have that extra, like, pressure, like, I have to get in it. Yeah. I don't know. It just kind of gets rid of the fun of it, I think, adding all that extra stuff. Yeah.

I think so, too. And I think, you know, what she was saying with the moms, not really the moms, because you don't see the moms as much on TikTok, but the sorority girls that are very well known right now. Some of them go to Alabama. I think, I think it's like a whole thing. You know, the moms are adding into it. The daughters are adding into it. But it's, it's everyone kind of making the world feel like this is okay. Yeah. And it's, it's not. I mean, and I think there are, of course, certain sororities at Alabama that are to a different standard, which obviously you do not need to go into that sorority. But, you know, my friend went to Alabama and she rushed and she definitely didn't do all of this. So ladies, we're starting a revolution. Yeah, right. There'll be no more running of the pigs.

No, that's crazy. Gross. If I had frat boys throwing balloons at me, I would cry. I would cry. Yeah. Oh, geez. What is going on? Either that or I'd be like ecstatic and dreaded around.

I don't know. Could go one or two ways. Yeah. We love hearing your stories. And if you have more dirty rush stories to tell us, make sure to give us a call. Call at 844-278 rush. All right. Well, guys, thank you for listening once again.

We are Dirty Rush. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To be continued.