Life lessons from sorority rush

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Hi Ledger readers, Ashley here. By now, most college students have moved back to their dorm rooms or student apartments, and countless young women have gone through the annual ritual of rush — a multi-day mutual selection process that sororities undertake to bring in new members. Especially in the South, rush is a cultural and social media spectacle. But can even non-sorority members learn something about the process? Frequent Ledger contributor Carroll Walton talks to a Charlotte-based expert, who wrote the literal bible on rush, about this topic in today’s lead story.

by Carroll Walton

Trisha Grode Addicks grew up in Charlotte, graduated from Charlotte Country Day and set her sights on becoming a member of Chi Omega at the University of Georgia in the late 1980s. 

Then bid day came, and she was handed an empty envelope. 

The rejection she felt, and what she learned in the year to follow when she re-entered rush and pledged Chi-O, stayed with her. In 2017, Addicks decided to turn her practice of advising friends’ daughters through recruitment into a consulting business. 

Now, she’s regularly quoted by national outlets such as ABC News and the Wall Street Journal on the topic of sorority rush. In May, Simon & Schuster published her book, “The Rush Bible,” a sorority recruitment guide. A fictional TV series based on the book is in development with Legendary Entertainment and Hyphenate Media Group, a production company co-founded by actress Eva Longoria.

The entertainment-industry publication Deadline said Addicks is “widely regarded as the nation’s top sorority rush consultant,” and it quoted a TV executive explaining that he wants to adapt the book for television because it is “a story about power, identity and belonging with remarkable authenticity and emotional complexity.”

Addicks’ advice doesn’t just apply to 18-year-old girls in matching outfits using their fingers to spell out Greek letters and posting dance routines on TikTok. Addicks and her team of two dozen mentors with her company, It’s All Greek to Me, are teaching girls how to “find their people” through multiple rounds of parties by preparing, practicing conversation and building self-confidence, which are principles easily applied in business interviews and beyond.

“I've heard from people who’ve read the book say, ‘I learned so much about connecting and confidence, and I don't even have anybody going through rush,’” said Addicks, a wife and mother of three who makes her home in Atlanta.

One of her readers is Meredyth Cole, head of the prestigious Lovett School in Atlanta, who told Addicks any woman would benefit from reading it.

“I’m leaning into ‘The Rush Bible’ because that’s what’s going to get [young women] to listen,” Addicks said. “But they’re getting skills that are going to serve them no matter what they do.”

The No. 1 mistake Addicks sees clients make is showing up unprepared.

Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill said the district is off to a “fabulous” start, praising the first week of classes last week as a “resounding success.”

At a media briefing on Friday, Hill said students arrived at campuses that were “prepped, pristine, warm and inviting,” and other CMS leaders praised the district’s efforts to improve bus arrival times and hire new teachers.

Students “were greeted by bus drivers and school staff with smiling faces and who were eager to answer questions and to provide support wherever needed,” Hill said. “Our phenomenal teachers were ready for students on Day 1 with engaging activities, building relationships and information about classroom norms and expectations, setting the right tone for this school year.”

CMS chief operations officer Tim Ivey said on-time morning bus arrivals improved to 91% on Friday, up from 75% at the start of the week, and the on-time afternoon arrivals improved to 74%, up from 68% at the start of the week. CMS still has about 100 bus-driver vacancies, leading some drivers to run multiple routes.

Ivey also said there are “no major facility issues” and praised the “excellent operational start to the school year.”

Asked about student safety, Ivey said that besides the widely reported arrest of a woman charged with flashing a gun during a dispute in a carpool line outside Mint Hill Elementary School on Thursday, there were no major incidents. Weapons detectors found one student bringing mace and another bringing a knife last week, he said.

District leaders said there are still 130 teacher vacancies, which is the lowest number in the past three years.

CMS is North Carolina’s second-largest school district, with nearly 140,000 students across 184 schools.

Before Friday’s briefing, CMS communications officials cautioned reporters that questions should be “limited to back-to-school operations, the first four days of school and the information presented during today’s briefing,” apparently to avoid answering uncomfortable questions about the recent investigation into Hill, which public records revealed Friday will cost at least $379,000.

The school board suspended Hill with pay for two months this summer for unspecified reasons and hired a law firm to conduct an investigation. It reinstated her this month, again without providing details. Board members voted last week to provide some information by the end of September.

WCNC reported that it was told that if its reporters asked questions not related to back-to-school topics at Friday’s briefing, they “would kindly be asked to leave.” –Tony Mecia

Dolly Parton’s death last week at the age of 80 has brought back floods of memories. And in Charlotte, one of those memories was the Dolly Parton look-alike contest that drew 1,500 onlookers to Trade and Tryon streets in 1978.

The contest was sponsored by WBT radio.

Last week, longtime WBT DJ and mid-day host H.A. Thompson talked with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman on the station’s “Good Morning BT” morning news/talk show about that contest, which he emceed, held on May 11, 1978.

At the time, Parton’s career was taking off, and her music was starting to gain crossover appeal. “Here You Come Again,” which had topped the country charts, had just reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and had been recently nominated for a Grammy.

Parton was scheduled to perform on May 13, 1978, at what is now known as Bojangles Coliseum on Independence Boulevard.

H.A. Thompson recalled the contest:

According to a brief Charlotte Observer article at the time, the winner received $250 and two tickets to the show.

The winner was 34-year-old Diane Hollar of Charlotte, who said she “didn’t expect to win,” even though people regularly approached her in restaurants and asked, “Oh, do you know who you look like?” Hollar said at the time, according to the Observer.

Look-alike contests were apparently in vogue in the late 1970s. In 1977, Hollar had entered a Dolly look-alike contest sponsored by Country Music magazine but instead won the award for looking the most like singer Tammy Wynette.

Hollar’s niece posted on Instagram last week: “My Aunt Diane won a Dolly Parton look-alike contest years ago. And I will never forget Dolly telling her, ‘You are prettier than me.’ We have lost a true icon.”

As for the Charlotte concert, the Observer’s review said that Parton’s “songs were all from the heart, and the coliseum’s poor acoustics only dampened her clear, childlike voice.”

She wore a “conservative white pantsuit with rhinestone belt and jeweled, knee-length over-scarf” and was “oozing charm and backwoods tales. During her introduction to ‘Apple Jack,’ she said, ‘I don’t chew (tobacco) nearly as much as I did.”

H.A. Thompson recalled on WBT last week: “The beauty of what she was is she was a recording star. She was a radio star. She was a TV star. She was a movie star. Not too many people do it like that. And she was just a gem of gems.” —Tony Mecia

We’ve all been there: The snack-and-beverage cart on your American Airlines flight makes its way toward your row, and you’re faced with the dilemma of choosing between Biscoff cookies and mini-pretzels.

Sometimes, there’s no choice at all — just the thin, spiced cookies.

Now, though, new options are on the way: American announced last week that it’s refreshing its lineup of free snacks in the main cabins of its mainline and regional fleets.

Starting in October, American will introduce bags of Goldfish in the morning, alongside the Biscoff cookies. Later in the day, the choices will be Goldfish, Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies or Peterson’s savory and sweet snack mix, which is a mix of pretzels, bagel chips and “honey sesame sticks.”

American said in a statement that the new lineup “brings together beloved favorites and new choices in a way that feels familiar, elevated and enjoyable.”

An American spokeswoman confirmed to The Ledger that bags of mini-pretzels will be eliminated.

If nothing else, the move should give new material to comedians who like to riff on airline food. —Tony Mecia

Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6: “‘Fight Club’ - Movie and Talkback,” 5:45-7:30 p.m., at Independent Picture House, 4237 Raleigh St. A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground “fight clubs” forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion. $9.75/ticket.

SEPTEMBER 29: “Regional Transportation Summit 2026,” 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at TPC Piper Glen, 4300 Piper Glen Drive. Join South Charlotte Partners and top leaders for a pivotal discussion on the future of transportation and mobility in South Charlotte! As the region continues to evolve, South Charlotte Partners is excited to convene an impactful discussion with key state and local leaders to explore the current landscape and future vision for transportation in the area. $108.55/ticket.

OCTOBER 24: “Bourbon for Booty,” 6:30-10 p.m., at Swinerton, 901 Berryhill Road. Sip. Savor. Support. Raise a glass to help support our local cancer community. Join 24 Foundation for an exceptional evening of curated bourbons, whiskeys, wines and chef-prepared small bites. This unforgettable night of fine sips and flavorful bites directly benefits local cancer navigation and survivorship programs. Guests must be 21 or older. $150/ticket.

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