That thread is from 2015. No, I don’t think it’s anything new in at least the last 10-20 years. I agree with most of the sentiments in that thread though that while it’s an evident thing on campus there didn’t seem to be a tremendous pressure (at least for my son) to pledge. With Tulane being 40/60 Male/Female and ~50% of Females belonging to a sorority it’s definitely a sizeable population.
It probably never came up to you because of the women in your life simply not being interested in it.
The amount of angst on the FB page was palpable about daughters not getting picked for the houses they wanted, etc etc. I guess it’s one of those things that if you’re into it you’re VERY into it, and if you’re not it never comes up. I steer towards the latter but can understand where it might be a draw for some students.