The path to sorority life can be a competitive process for those seeking an invitation to join a sorority.
On many college campuses the sorority recruitment process is governed by recruitment rules which include a maximum number of new members that each sorority chapter on the campus can have for that recruitment period, and the recruitment period is limited to a few days.
For many seeking a coveted invitation to join, the path is no longer paved solely with recruitment events. Since sorority influencers, like “RushTok,” exploded in 2021, the path for many young women seeking an invitation includes self-submitted curated videos reflecting appropriate aesthetics, intonation and messaging submitted by the prospective member.
For many prospective members of sorority life, the video is a polished introduction intended to secure a coveted spot in a sorority. However, behind high-definition smiles and choreographed enthusiasm lies a dormant threat that few applicants have considered: Data and identity theft.
The very things used to highlight personality—voice, mannerisms and appearance—are being harvested into databases by both software companies and bad actors, representing a potential personal security nightmare for those who submit curated videos to seek an invitation to join a sorority.
Imagine being able to clone someone else’s voice or face and then appear on Zoom as that person. Now, stop imagining, as that time is already here.
In the era of generative AI, “being seen” is synonymous with being mapped, and once something is mapped, it can be reproduced by anyone with the map, including nefarious actors.
In order for bad actors to perpetuate a deepfake, they only need a few seconds of your voice. And you do not have to think only about people with great technical skills.
Pretty much anyone under the age of 20 can probably tell you how to create a deepfake using commercially available AI. At a minimum, these can be used for embarrassing purposes, and at worst, can lead to extortion.
By aggregating thousands of videos of young adults—often identifying themselves by name, hometown and major—those submitting videos in pursuit of an invitation to join are inadvertently building lucrative databases for bad actors. This raw material can lead to long-term identity compromise that could haunt an applicant years after they have graduated.
New sorority video recruitment policies
If the risks are so high, why hasn’t the practice been stopped? Because 21st century cyber protection is a team sport.
It is not the national sorority organization that choses to whom invitations to join will be extended, it is the chapters of the national sorority organization that chose to whom they will extend an invitation.
Unilateral organization protocols—where a single sorority chapter decides to ban video submissions—are perceived as a competitive disadvantage. If Organization A sorority chapter refuses to look at videos to protect applicant privacy, but Peer Organization B sorority chapter continues to accept them, Organization A sorority chapter fears they will miss out on top recruits who prefer the visual medium.
It is a classic prisoner’s dilemma. No single sorority chapter wants to be the first to blink.
The recruitment process in the age of generative AI should be considered. Solutions from the top down with organization-wide governance policies emanating from umbrella groups for peer organizations could place the national organizations and their collegiate chapters on a level playing field on the nonuse of self-submitted videos in the recruitment process.
National sororities are members of an umbrella group for peer organizations. These include the National Panhellenic Conference, the National Pan-Hellenic Conference and the National Multicultural Greek Council.
These umbrella organizations can be utilized to address governance policies for submission of videos by prospective members. Policies could include, for example, a policy that videos of prospective members will not be viewed or used for membership invitation purposes.
An alternative policy could be all video applications be deleted from all databases at the end of the recruitment period. This policy could lessen the risk that a database full of biometric information remains exposed.
Of course, a similar rule would need to be implemented requiring all such video applications to be stored in one centralized database and without copies being permitted, including emails where the videos may have been submitted.
Education of chapters of why a policy exists for video submissions could also occur. Chapters need to understand why such protocols exist, not just to follow a policy, but to protect the safety of their future sisters.
Lifeitme friendships and connections
Sorority membership provides many benefits. They include lifetime friendships and connections, substantive leadership opportunities and educational programs that better the individual, among others.
None of the sorority organizations want anything in membership or the pursuit of membership to bring any harm to its members or to those pursuing membership in sorority organizations. Self-submitted videos as part of the membership recruitment process are ripe for an in-depth analysis of their use in the recruitment process.
