When Morgan Cadenhead — aka Bama Morgan — announced in an Aug. 14 TikTok that she had been dropped from primary recruitment at The University of Alabama for the second time, fans were shocked. But Morgan wasn’t. “After the first convocation day, I knew I was going to get dropped,” she tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “I wanted to stay in the game, but I was dropped after Philanthropy [round].”
Morgan, now a sophomore at Bama, was convinced she wasn’t going to participate in primary recruitment again after getting dropped the year prior. “I was like, ‘If I do it, it’ll be a COB [Continuous Open Bid]. I’m not going through primary again,’” she says. But feeling as though she didn’t give the 2023 rush process a fair shot, Morgan ultimately decided to give rush another chance. “I started studying, had flashcards made, I was reading up, and putting together the outfits,” she says. “It took about six months to prepare for rush.”
Going into fall rush 2024 at Alabama, Morgan wasn’t hopeful. “I was only expecting one or two houses back,” she says. “I can’t tell you which house I [heard] back from, but I was completely shocked because I was not expecting the house I got back at all.”
To Bama Rush fans on TikTok, things seemed to be heading in the right direction for Morgan. But on the fifth day of rush and Day 1 of Sisterhood round, Morgan revealed to her nearly 200,000 TikTok followers that she had been dropped from recruitment. While many people supported Morgan, some believed she didn’t move forward in the process because she declined certain houses. “There’s a big misconception right now that people think that I got dropped because I didn’t like the houses that I heard from, or that I declined a snap bid,” she says. “I was dropped twice. I did not drop because I didn’t like the houses. I’m seeing a lot of people say that it’s my fault I was dropped because I declined these snap bids I never got. It did not happen. Complete myth.”
Although Morgan wasn’t able to continue on with primary recruitment, she has no hard feelings or regrets. “I’m very proud. When I look back on last year’s rush, I’m not very happy with how I rushed. But, when I look back on this year, I’m very happy with how I handled it and how the rush videos went this year,” she says. Morgan’s even more proud of how many folks she inspired along the way. “I had maybe 20 or 30 girls reach out to me and say that they were nervous about getting dropped, and wanted to know what I thought they should do,” Morgan says. “[My TikTok videos] served their purpose regardless of what anyone says.”
Morgan plans to continue inspiring potential new members (PNMs) on their rush journeys. “I try to help the people that are coming in because I understand what it’s like to go into rush with nothing. I had no clue about rush last year,” she says. “So every time I have somebody reach out to me, I’m always more than willing to do that. At the end of the day, it’s better to have an informed PNM than an uninformed one.”
So what’s next for Bama Morgan? Her journey to sisterhood isn’t over — she has her sights set on participating in continuous open bidding to meet even more members and potentially find her home.
“I have never been to all 18 houses [on sorority row], and there’s a large portion of houses that I’ve never looked at before,” she says. “I’m curious to see if they’re a good fit for me. I’m really just looking for a house that’s willing to take a chance on me. I want to be part of the sisterhood.”