Lifetime’s Sorority Rush Series Shows Moms Getting Involved in the Action (Exclusive)

The world continues to get new peeks into the whirlwind process of college sorority rush, and this time it’s from a parental perspective.

Lifetime’s new unscripted series A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush! gives viewers an inside look into mom-daughter duos as they navigate the high-pressure world of Greek life, and PEOPLE has an exclusive look at the full trailer.

The new show shifts the focus from potential new members and casts a spotlight on the women standing beside them: their mothers, who are just as, if not more, invested in the outcome. 

“There are three important things in a mother’s life: the birth of her child, her daughter’s wedding day and sorority rush,” pageant coach Bill Alverson says in the trailer.

Alverson — who has provided coaching for both Miss America and Miss USA contestants — teams up with the self-proclaimed “ultimate authority when it comes to rush on TikTok” Brandis Bradley to mentor these families through the increasingly competitive and viral process.

Under the guidance of the two coaches, the families will work out the emotional, social, financial and yes, sartorial, strategies that it will take to make a lasting impression on each house.

“We’re talking multiple outfits, interviews, open houses,” Bradley says in the trailer. 

The trailer for the series opens with fast-paced clips from social media and news coverage capturing the frenzy and excitement that surrounds sorority rush and Bid Day — the fateful day that new members find out which sorority they have ended up in.

“Some people are calling it the NFL draft for women,” a newscaster says in a voiceover, as footage flashes of young women sobbing, celebrating and documenting their recruitment experience on TikTok.

The series also features interviews with the mother-daughter duos at the heart of the journey, as they reflect on the pressure and preparation it takes to secure one’s dream bid, as well as the personal reasons for many of the mothers prompting them to take their daughters’ rushing so seriously. “For every girl going through rush, there is a mommy right behind her who wants it as bad as she does,” Bradley adds. 

“I might want it more than Emily,” one mother says in an interview about her investment in her daughter’s rush process.

“If I need to bake cakes and slap her face on the front and deliver it to every single sorority, I’m doing it,” another mom says. 

For many girls, recruitment is a “legacy” process, which means that they will be aiming to secure a bid at the same sorority that their mothers were once in. 

Throughout the trailer, the girls prep with coaches, film introduction videos, shop for clothing and consult with Alverson, who offers them candid advice on everything from their outfits to social media presence. 

The show will also feature content creator “Bama Morgan,” who went viral on TikTok for sharing her recruitment experience during her freshman year at the University of Alabama. The series will follow Morgan as she attempts her second chance at a bid. 

“Y’all know that rejection is part of it, right?” Bradley asks over a montage of clips showing girls crying over the process.

A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush! premieres August 11 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT. The show is produced by VICE Studios in association with Motion Entertainment, a WPP Media Company for Lifetime.