If you have ever found heavily invested in RushTok videos (trust me, I’ve been there many times), you might have come across something called The Society at Southern Methodist University. TikToker @sammysamslife recently did a series about The Society on TikTok, which has sparked tons of new fans’ interest, but if you still have never heard of The Society, you’re in for a wild ride…
It all seemingly began in 2022, the SMU chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta — also known as the Beta Sigma chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta — was suspended from the campus. According to the school’s student newspaper, the SMU Daily Campus, in the wake of the suspension, some of the mothers of members in the Beta Sigma chapter decided to form an organization in order for their daughters to still have the Greek life experience that they had imagined. Originally, the organization’s members reportedly referred to themselves as the Theta Society, but eventually the Kappa Alpha Theta nationals reached out and told them they were not allowed to use this name when referring to their organization, since the club is not affiliated with the sorority, according to the SMU Daily Campus. So, from there, The Society was born.
Just as Kappa Alpha Theta has made it clear The Society is not part of its org, the SMU Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life website has made it clear The Society is not affiliated with the university, either, stating, “The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has received several reports of organized activities and recruitment by social groups who are not affiliated with SMU or the Greek community, including a group self-identifying as the ‘Theta Society,’ and/or ‘The Society’ despite the SMU chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta’s suspension from campus earlier this year. To be clear, the local Beta Sigma chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta is suspended through at least January 15, 2026, and is not recognized or sanctioned as an active organization at SMU by the Panhellenic Council, Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity, Inc., or SMU.”
But although The Society was never associated with SMU, that did not stop women at the university from joining the organization. In fact, the organization held recruitment as recently as the spring 2024 semester. Although officially referred to as a club and not a sorority, The Society shares many traits with Panhellenic sororities, including having bigs and littles and requiring memberships dues, according to the SMU Daily Campus. The organization also has social events with fraternities, sisterhood events, and philanthropic events. It has even held its own version of rush at the same time as the Panhellenic chapters at SMU. Members from the club express that it’s like a more low-key version of a sorority, with all the sisterhood and philanthropy, without strict rules or hazing.
However, SMU recently had an update to its student code of conduct, prohibiting students from joining organizations that have been derecognized by the university. The new update now makes it a violation of the SMU code of conduct “to knowingly affiliate with groups, teams, or organizations that have had their University recognition or registration withdrawn, suspended, or permanently revoked by the University for disciplinary reasons.” The code of conduct goes on to describe affiliation as “joining, rushing, pledging or being involved in any activity that would normally be associated with being a member of such an organization. This applies to organizations that were created by members of a de-recognized organization in an attempt to continue its presence on campus.”
According to SMU Daily Campus, it’s not confirmed that this update to the bylaws was made in response to The Society’s existence. However, anyone who reads it could certainly draw their own conclusions. From the looks of it, joining The Society is now prohibited by SMU. Students that are found to be affiliated with the organization by joining or attending events related to said organization could have their actions reviewed by the University Conduct Review Process, and could eventually be subject to disciplinary action, such as suspension, probation, or even expulsion.
Whether SMU is actually going to identify and punish all of the students involved with the organization is unclear. For those who are nervous about putting their academic careers at risk — just be careful out there!