Alabama Rush TikToker Makayla Culpepper Dropped From Every Sorority Just Days After Saying She's Mixed Race
#BamaRush TikTok wants #JusticeForMakayla
TikTok / whatwouldjimmybuffetdo Unless you’ve been living under a rock — or just don’t have a TikTok account — you’ll know that the internet’s latest viral obsession is “Bama Rush.”
Yep, the sororities of the University of Alabama are welcoming a new generation of potential new members and their taking over TikTok with outfits of the day and rush week updates, often hashtagged #bamarush, as they search for the perfect house to fit their ideal "Greek Life".
One particularly viral star of Alabama’s rush week is Makayla Culpepper — also known as @whatwouldjimmybuffetdo on TikTok.
Culpepper quickly became an audience favorite, but revealed over the weekend that she was dropped by every sorority and would not receive a bid — much to her fans' dismay.
The fan favorite sparked a series of anti-Alabama rush videos as many wondered about the reason she was dropped, expressing their frustration on TikTok under the hashtag #justiceformakayla.
Why was Makayla Culpepper dropped from Alabama rush?
Some TikTok commenters have suggested Culpepper’s exclusion may have been racially motivated, while others have accused her of underage drinking, disobeying Greek Life standards, and even bullying.
Makayla revealed she is mixed race days before being dropped from Alabama rush.
Days before announcing she would not be continuing the rush process, Culpepper revealed she was mixed race after being accused of blackfishing.
“I am mixed so everyone trying to cancel me for going to tanning beds and being this dark is kind of dumb,” she told her followers at the start of one of her popular "outfit of the day" videos.
While we can’t know for sure if Culpepper’s racial identity influenced any of the sororities to drop her, her losing out on a place in a sorority on a largely white campus is a reminder of the inequality students of color historically faced at the college.
In 2013, University of Alabama’s sororities were ordered to alter their recruitment process in order to desegregate and end racial discrimination after the administration acknowledged that Greek Life houses were racially divided.
Others say Makayla was dropped because of an Old Row video in which she was allegedly drunk.
It is also possible that Alabama’s sororities decided to drop Culpepper over a video in which she appears to be drunk and moons the camera.
Media company ‘Old Row’ is a self-described "entertainment website" dedicated to "Jokes, hot takes, babes, vintage pics from a campus near you."
In the video, which has since been deleted many believe Culpepper, who is underage, had been drinking.
She addressed the claims in a recent TikTok.
“I wasn’t even drunk in that video yet,” she said, explaining that the video was taken at a Halloween party in a restaurant, not in a bar.
Sororities are known for having strict standards — particularly when it comes to alcohol consumption — for all rushees and members, so it’s possible the video breached their rules.
Makayla was also accused of bullying by people from her hometown.
In the same TikTok, Culpepper addressed comments from high school classmates who accused her of being a bully.
“I was never a bully, I never did anything unwarranted,” she said in the video.
She added a caption saying she didn’t meet any of the girls accusing her of bullying until she was 16 and hasn’t seen them since she was 17, claiming they never had a “long-term” relationship.
Was Makayla Culpepper banned from TikTok?
For a short period of time over the past few days, Makayla updated her TikTok profile bio to read: "Blocked from posting so I can’t update, also shadowbanned."
On August 15, she shared an Instagram story in which she announcing she was being unbanned as of that night and thanking everyone for the 100,000 follows.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.