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A woman on TikTok shares what it was like managing 'millions of dollars' for her Alabama sorority at 19 years old

photos of row of graduates from the waist down holding their caps
Christy Sasso said that the students were in charge of the finances in her sorority. KelseyJ/Shutterstock

  • The Bama Rush TikTok trend has sparked curiosity about Greek life on college campuses.
  • Christy Sasso is posting videos about how huge sums of money are handled in sororities.
  • She said she was in charge of spending millions of dollars when she was 19 years old. 
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With Bama Rush TikTok taking over "For You" pages, details of college Greek life are being shared with millions like never before.

Now the TikTok user Christy Sasso (@christysasso) is sharing what it was like managing "millions of dollars" as the treasurer of her sorority at the University of Alabama.

Sasso said she was in charge of the finances for her sorority when she was 19

On Saturday, Sasso said in a video that many people who've found their way onto Bama Rush TikTok are curious about the cost of sororities.

She said that commentators were right that some sororities — specifically the ones at the University of Alabama — cost thousands of dollars a semester. But no one's talking about who manages all the money.

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"Because if you do some quick math, the dues for the year when I was there were like just under $6,000," she said in the video. "There's over 400 girls in the sorority, like 420. That's $2.5 million a year." 

She added: "You would assume like some adult handles all this, but that's where you're wrong. When I was 19 years old, I was given access to several bank accounts with millions of dollars in them."

She said the 'millions of dollars' of dues paid for everything from extravagant parties to utility bills

Sasso said that she had only about $200 in her own bank account as a sophomore in college but was in charge of writing checks for utilities, hiring caterers, and throwing expensive parties with the sorority's funds. 

While she said there was alumni supervision, she added that most checks were just given a cursory glance before getting signed. She even recalled a time when the sorority president — who was also about 19 — was able to sign checks to pay a bar tab.

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"It was also just, like, so nonchalant. Like, we would throw an $80,000 party on a Tuesday — not a problem," Sasso said. "I used to walk around campus with checks for like half a million dollars in my backpack. Like, I'm just bopping around the quad with half a million dollars in my backpack."

In a follow-up video on Sunday, Sasso said the "$80,000 party" was in reference to the sorority's annual formal.

Normal parties ranged from $30,000 to $40,000, she said, mostly because of the sheer number of people involved. Their national organization also required them to provide transportation, food, and security at every event, which adds up.

In a second follow-up video on Sunday, she agreed with commenters that the sorority dues were high but said in addition to parties, they paid for things like private chefs, tutors, and the house's about $1 million yearly rent. 

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While she didn't have financial experience before the position, the role inspired Sasso to change her major and become a CPA

@christysasso

Reply to @meganlyndeterman Answering some common questions!

♬ original sound - Christy Sasso

In the second Sunday video, Sasso said that her only experience managing money before the sorority was spending her paychecks from Chuck E. Cheese in high school.

Suddenly running essentially a multimillion-dollar business was a huge adjustment, but she said that taking on the position inspired her to change her major to accounting.

"Obviously, budgeting and money management is a huge life skill that everyone needs, but I am also a CPA now because of this position," Sasso said.

She said she even had a full-time job offer lined up "more than a year" before graduation, which she credited to the position.

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Christy Sasso and the University of Alabama did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

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