My Home For The Year!

The second building along the road is my block. Right behind us is the rec centre and
right in front of us is the back of fraternity row.

The Quad, right in the middle of campus with Denny Chimes ringing
out every fifteen minutes. 

This is facing away from the stadium onto University Boulevard and a few frat houses. 

The library!

This is the oldest building on campus.

This is fraternity row, right infront of where we live at Bryce Lawn. Note all the massive gas
guzzing trucks packed outside! Every single student has one. 

These are just a few images from around campus!

Tornado Destruction

Greek Life

Sororities And Fraternities Rule This Campus

From the massive southern houses to the ridiculous parties and the atmosphere of superiority that oozes from the people that take part. The University of Alabama has the biggest sorority and fraternity culture in the whole of the US. Its incredible and pretty unbelievable that anything like this could ever happen at a university in this day and age but it has been happening in American universities for generations and they pride themselves on this. We have nothing to compare it to in england, i think that is maybe why in the first week of arriving all of the international students were just in ore of the whole situation. The Greek life is all about money and family history/legacy. The week we arrived it was rush week for the sororities so every day hundreds of girls were out on campus doing various tasks and being judged and evaluated for god knows what to see if they had the right looks and attributions that each sorority was looking for. From our point of view looking in, it seemed like the most ridiculous tradition that could ever take place in this day and age. So demoralizing and degrading for the girls involved. Last week 1,200 girls took part in Rush Week ad only 500 got a place in a sorority and for those 700 girls it was literally the end of their lives. The University of Alabama police were even on suicide watch for the weekend because the girls took rejection THAT seriously. Its hard to imagine that these girls could get that involved in such a process but watching it all take place it was obvious that these young girls get sucked in and spat out again by those that feel it necessary to judge a girl on their looks, the way they dress, the amount of money their family has and how much of that can be donated to their sorority. We even found a manual in a toilet which had been left by a distraught girl who had been rejected. This manual had everything in it, from what to wear to what to eat and how to conduct yourself throughout the week to make a good impression. The boys fraternity life is a whole other subject which i will have to go into in another post!

These images are from Bid Day, the final day of Rush Week. Each house congregates outside 
their house while the new members are waiting to find out if they have got in or not. 

Hundreds of the girls family and friends wait to find out who has got in.

The girls who are finding out if they have got into the sorority that they want have to 
go into the stadium to collect their envelope which contains the verdict. Then they run 
screaming and crying down this street manned by police to their given sororities. 

This is one of the sororities new members running down the street in front of the crowd.

The girls, some crying because they didn't get in and some extremely happy exit the stadium 
as they hold their envelopes. 

An experience that photographs can not quite give justice, as you can probably imagine!!

Images of the Bryant Denny Stadium

This is the inside of the Bryant Denny Stadium home of Alabama Crimson Tide. It has a maximum capacity of 101,821 people! Pretty amazing!

This is Big Al, the Alabama mascot which is standing on the green outside the stadium

Outside the stadium is the 'Walk of Champions' along with statues of all the coaches that led the team to the National Championships. 

The Fascinating Life of a University of Alabama Student

'Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Give 'Em Hell Alabama'

Students come to UA for Football, not the British kind, but the massive men built like a brick wall wearing a lot of armour and kicking about an egg shaped ball kind. The impression I get is the University is funded by wealthy donations towards the football team and this creats an overwhelming support for the game through the university. The main pre game areas where food and drink is put on costs more than $200,000 to be part of. I have said 'Roll Tide' in one week more times than i can count on one hand! Everyone wears school colors around campus and Alabama merchandise creating a culture that runs throughout the whole town of Tuscaloosa. I have to say, I have already bought into this culture by purchasing my first University of Alabama T-shirt and Crimson Tide shorts. It was hard to chose between the UA printed handbags and purses to the Big Al writting paper or the UA phone covers. I was fascinated by the amount of support given by the community to the college team. A trip to Wall-Mart was eye opening in more ways than one. The main thing I noticed after taking in the sheer size of the place was the amount of UA football merchandise on sale for the public to buy. Car stickers galore all over their gas guzzling trucks and window stickers and flags all over their hundreds of fast food outlets along the highway and the season hasn't even begun yet! I have been told Game days are like nothing I will have ever seen before, even Tail Gating is a massive spectacle with members of the town flocking to the Quad on campus and setting up their own areas to watch the game on their big screen tvs next to their massive SUVs and their pets come along for the ride too! I cant wait to see all that for myself when the season kicks off in a few weeks. It is interesting to look in from an outsiders point of view, wondering how one school can be so overwhelmed with pride for their football team but you cant really help but get sucked along for the ride.             ROLL TIDE.

"Yea, Alabama!"

Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide!
Every 'Bama man's behind you;
Hit your stride!
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!
And if a man starts to weaken,
That's a shame!
For 'Bama's pluck and grit
Have writ her name in crimson flame!
Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!
Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win then!
Go, roll to victory,
Hit your stride,
You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!

ROLL TIDE.