Running head: DEVELOPING THROUGH A DIRTY RUSH 1

Developing Through a Dirty Rush:

Student Development Theory in Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell

Kara Marx

Bridgewater State University

Fall 2019
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Student Development in the Characters of Dirty Rush

College is the time where people develop into who they are. There are countless theories on

student development in many different areas, including faith, sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender

identity, morals, and more. Students develop all of these areas of their lives through their

academics, involvements, and just through life events that happen. “Participation in clubs and

organizations has long been identified as an important form of involvement that contributes to

student learning across a variety of domains” (Dugan, 2011, 17). There are many books, movies,

and television shows that focus on students in college and their growth throughout their time at a

higher education institution. One involvement that seems to grab the most attention in these

media outlets is Greek life, and how students develop when involved in these organizations.

Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell is a novel that retells the story of the author’s time in a Greek

organization and how she developed and struggled through that time. This paper will focus

specifically on three student development theories including Baxter Magolda’s path to self-

authorship, Kohlberg’s theory on moral development, and Marica’s ego identity statuses, all of

which relate to the main character of Taylor Bell.

Dirty Rush Plot

Dirty Rush takes place at Central Delaware University and focuses on Taylor Bell, a

freshman whose main goal is to stray from the legacy that the women in her family have left at

CDU. While the university was created by Bell, the story follows what happened to the author

during her time in the sorority Beta Zeta (BZ). Taylor is a third-generation legacy, meaning that

her grandmother, mother, and two sisters all attended CDU and were affiliated with BZ. Being a

legacy in the eyes of a sorority means that student is almost guaranteed a spot, barring any

suspicious, dangerous, or otherwise troubling behavior.

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When Taylor started at CDU, she had a goal of ruining the tradition of Bell women

joining Beta Zeta and wanted nothing to do with Greek life. The only reason she even attended

CDU was because she was offered a full academic scholarship and could not pass down a free

education. So despite her desire to remove herself from her family line at CDU, she took the

scholarship. The novel starts with Taylor attending a party at a fraternity house, because a cute

boy invited her. Her plan was to go, see Jack, and leave. Once she was introduced to a few girls

in BZ, her life changed completely.

As she got introduced to more sisters of Beta Zeta, girls who she had convinced herself

she would hate, Taylor’s opinion of Greek life slowly changed. After much nagging from her

newfound friends, Taylor soon pledged Beta Zeta and got wrapped up in sorority life. Soon she

was a sister and got wrapped up into all the drama that comes with the Greek life world and had

to find a way to stay true to herself.

Taylor’s Path to Self- Authorship

After deciding to attend CDU, Taylor was firmly against the idea of following all of the

women in her family in joining Beta Zeta. She had never seen the appeal, only knew of what her

sisters said about it and was morally against joining it. “Jonah, it was one night of stupid girly

fun. I’m not gonna join, trust me” (Bell, 2015, 38).

Although Taylor follows Baxter Magolda’s path to self- authorship, she does not start at

phase one. “The goal is self- authorship, a process of self- reflection resulting in an organization

of thoughts and feelings to form an opinion or decision” (Blimling, 2002, 307). Phase one of

Baxter’s theory is define as following the path that is laid out for them by external authorities.

Taylor’s external authorities are her family members that are pushing her to pledge BZ. She has
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been dead set against joining the sorority since she first started hearing about it from her two

sisters, so in this way, Taylor is already onto the second phase of Baxter Magolda’s theory.

The second phase is where a student comes to a crossroads where they have to establish a

new plan to better fit what they want out of life. Taylor starts this second phase after she meets

the girls of BZ and starts to see Greek life in a different light. Despite everything she has

founded her beliefs on, Taylor starts to warm up to the idea of joining a sorority. Taylor has to

reevaluate what she wants out of her college experience and has to take into consideration that

she may follow a different path. Baxter noted that individuals also “become dissatisfied with

how they have been defined by others and see the need to create their own sense of self” (Patton

et al, 2016, 367). Since starting college, Taylor had created this image of herself as the complete

opposite of a “sorority girl” and when she started coming around to the idea, many people

doubted her ability to enjoy being in a sorority. On the other hand, the sorority women trying to

recruit Taylor only see her as “Taylor Bell, the third- generation legacy” and she finds herself

wanting to be more than that. These crossroads and her decision to ultimately join the sorority

lead her into the next phase of self- authorship.

Baxter’s third phase is characterized by having the ability to choose one’s beliefs no

matter the conflicting situations (Patton et al, 2016). Taylor reaches the third phase when she

goes home for Christmas break, after her first semester. At this point, Taylor had already pledged

Beta Zeta and was a member, but none of her family member knew. When her older sister Kelly

arrived home and heard the news, she could not believe it, “I told Colette that there was no way

in Hades you were even a pursuable option when you got accepted last year” (Bell, 2015, 145).

Taylor went on to explain that despite what she had originally thought, the friendships, charity

work and loyalty that she has gotten out of Beta Zeta is more than she ever thought possible.
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Following Baxter Magolda’s ideas on contextual belief changes, Taylor also promises her sister

that despite loving BZ and being fully involved, she won’t lose herself. This shows that while

Taylor has chosen to believe full heartedly in Beta Zeta and its values, she will stay true to

herself and who she is.

Throughout the rest of the book, Taylor struggled with life in Beta Zeta and finds herself

doubting her membership. Taylor doesn’t reach the fourth phase of “internal foundation” until

the very end of the book. She found herself being alienated by a few of the sisters of BZ who

stage a pornographic video, and frame Taylor in a bid to get her to resign from the organization.

With a few close friends supporting her, Taylor soon found all the evidence she needed that she

was being framed. In front of her entire chapter, she exposed the president for the video and

demands her resignation, just as she had of Taylor. After Colette resigns, Taylor found peace and

love in her sisterhood. Once she reached this peace, Taylor could find her place in the sorority

and allowed her more agency to act as a member (Kurtyka, 2017, 108). “I came into this year

with one idea of who I was and who my ‘people’ were, and now it was ending and I was

surrounded by girls I never could’ve imagined being this close to” (Bell, 2015, 248). Instead of

resigning from the organization and moving on, Taylor stands up for what she knew was the

truth.

Taylor’s Moral Development

Taylor’s moral development comes into view in the story once she joins Beta Zeta.

Kohlberg’s theory on moral development includes six stages three levels that represent an

individual’s relationship with societal rules, rightness, and obligation. (Patton et al, 2016).

Taylor starts Beta Zeta journey in level one which contains stage one: Heteronomous

Morality and stage two: Individualistic, Instrumental Morality. Taylor starts in stage one as many
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new members of a Greek organization does, which is where she obeys the rules to avoid

punishment. As a pledge, Taylor and the other pledges were expected to do whatever the active

sisters told them. At one point, Taylor and a few other pledges were given the task of being

designated drivers for the whole sisterhood for a weekend. While Taylor would’ve preferred any

other job, she gladly did what she was told in order to stay in the chapter’s good graces. She also

did this to make sure none of the sisters drove drunk, therefore following the rules and making

sure no physical harm came to anyone. Taylor quickly transitioned into stage two, which is

following the rules if it is in her best interest. On the second night of her weekend to be the

designated driver, on the way back to the BZ house with a car full of girls, Taylor drives by

another sister stumbling down the street alone. While she felt that she should have stopped and

squeezed her into the backseat, the sisters already in the car were annoyed at Taylor and the other

pledge, so Taylor felt it was in her best interest to drive those girls back, rather than pick up the

sister walking alone. Although she was following the rules, she only did so to the benefit herself.

Level two includes stage three: interpersonally normative morality and stage four: social

system morality. Taylor transitions into stage three when she and the other pledges are given a

scavenger hunt filled with disgusting and demoralizing tasks that they had to complete. Despite

being “deeply over it”, Taylor remembered something Meg, an older sister, had told her (Bell,

2015, 117). Meg was Taylor’s “big sister” in the sorority and was the closest friend she had in

BZ. “I’m pretty sure that Meg told me that when you get to the scavenger hunt. You’re on the

home stretch, so just hang in there” (Bell, 2015, 119). Although the scavenger hunt took Taylor

far out of her comfort zone, she did not want to let Meg down. She was so close to becoming a

full member of the sorority, that she had to meet the expectations that Meg and the rest of the

chapter gave to her.

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Stage four came in the form of Taylor’s initiation. Stage four involves an individual

viewing the social system as a consistent set of rules that applies equally to all (Patton et al,

2016). When she was signing the membership book and participating in a ritual, Taylor

remembered that she was now the fifth woman in her family to do this same ritual. “This was

something that we’d share forever” (Bell, 2015, 130). This sisterhood, set of values and rules,

and the loyalty of Beta Zeta was something that every BZ sister would share forever and it was

not until her initiation that Taylor really believed that.

The third and final level of Kohlberg’s theory includes stages five and six, which are the

principled stages. Taylor transitioned into stage five at the end of the book when she had to stand

up for herself against the president, Colette, who was framing her and demanding her resignation

from the sisterhood. Stage five involves the idea that the social system and its laws are based on

the extent that they value fundamental human rights. When Taylor realized that it was Colette

who framed her in the video and that she had turned the sisterhood away from its values, she had

to do something. Rather than submit to Colette’s wishes and resign quietly, Taylor showed her

proof to the entire chapter and demanded Colette’s resignation. While still believing in the

sisterhood, Taylor had realized that those in charge were not valuing each sister as an individual,

let alone someone with basic rights. This realization proves that Taylor has reached stage five of

Kohlberg’s theory. Kohlberg could not demonstrate the existence of stage six and throughout the

rest of the novel, Taylor does not come into any situation that would lead her into that stage

(Patton et al, 2016).

Taylor’s Ego Identity Development

James Marcia’s Ego Identity Statuses focus on how young adults experience and resolves

crises (Patton et al, 2016). The four statuses, unlike most developmental theories, are not
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progressive or permanent. Throughout Dirty Rush, Taylor is in two of the four stages,

moratorium and identity achievement.

Marcia’s status, moratorium is the status that has a crisis and no commitment. It is when

an individual questions parental values in order to form their identity, the crisis, without any

commitment in their exploration. When Taylor first starts at CDU, she is questioning her

family’s value of Beta Zeta but actively explores it as a potential possibility. Although she a

legacy and is essentially handed a spot if she wants it, there is still no commitment on Taylor’s

end when she is considering pledging. When she’s in this status, Taylor is flexible or indecisive,

as she goes back and forth on her decision. Her exploration of Greek life and her inability to

make up her mind clearly shows that she starts in the moratorium status.

Taylor transitions into the Identity Achievement status once she joins BZ. As Marcia’s

description states, Taylor goes through even more crises after she makes her decision because

her identity as a Beta Zeta was secure and she could explore more and take risks, for example,

her scandal with Colette and the video (Patton et al, 2016). Before joining BZ, Taylor never

would’ve gone up against Colette, but because she had her foundation of the sisterhood behind

her, she could.

Conclusion

If Dirty Rush had sequels and readers had the chance to see Taylor throughout the rest of

her college career, there would be even more development from her. However, in just her

freshman year alone, she developed self- authorship, her morals, and her ego identity. Although

this paper only focused on Taylor’s development, other characters may have also shown some

development throughout the novel, and in other areas than the three that were discussed. Overall,

novel portrays the importance of involvement in college for overall student development.
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References

Bell, T. (2015). Dirty Rush. New York: Gallery Books.

Blimling, Gregory S. “Creating Contexts for Learning and Self-Authorship: Constructive

Developmental Pedagogy.” The Journal of Higher Education, vol. 73, no. 2, 2002, pp.

307–309., doi:10.1080/00221546.2002.11777149.

Dugan, J. P. (2011). Students involvement in group experiences and connections to leadership

development. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011, 17–32. doi:

10.1002/ir.414

Kurtyka, F. M. (2017). Learning How to Feel: Conversion Narratives and Community

Membership in First-Year Composition. Composition Studies, 45(1), 99–116.

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido-DiBrito, F. J., & Quaye, S. (2016). Student development in

college theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A

Wiley Brand.