Sorority Vocabulary
Active: A fully initiated undergraduate member of a sorority.
Alumna/Alum: A woman who has completed a period of active membership in a sorority chapter in college.
Alumnae: Plural of Alumna
Alumnae Panhellenic: The city organization of the alumnae of National Panhellenic Conference sororities.
Bid: A formal invitation of membership that is extended to a Potential Member asking them to join their chapter.
Chapter: The local collegiate membership of a national fraternal organization.
Continuous Open Bidding: Following the close of Formal Recruitment some chapters may hold small social gatherings for a small number of potential new members. At any time the chapter could offer an invitation to join their sorority. Check with your university Panhellenic for the rules pertaining to continuous open bidding.
Deferred Recruitment: A form of recruitment where the formal recruitment process takes place after the completion of at least one semester of college.
Dirty Rushing: Any violation of a rule set by the University Panhellenic Council as governed by the National Panhellenic Conference.
Dropping out of Recruitment: If it becomes necessary for a potential new member to discontinue attendance at recruitment parties, she should check with her college Panhellenic as to procedure and registration for Recruitment at a later date.
Greek: A name/title applied to women who are members of a national sorority/fraternal organization.
Initiation: A formal ceremony, unique to each individual chapter, which inducts the New Member as an official Active Member of the sorority.
Intentional Single Preference/ Solo Bidding/ Suicide/Suiciding: To indicate only one choice at a preferential signing. NPC strongly recommends that every girl going through recruitment indicate a first and a second choice at preferential signing.
Legacy: A Potential Member whose grandmother, mother or sister is an initiated member of a sorority.
National Panhellenic Council (NPC): A national organization comprised of 26 member women’s fraternities.
New Member: A woman who has received a bid from a sorority and has accepted membership. The term is used for the semester following recruitment, and is often used to indicate women who have not yet been initiated.
Open/Informal Recruitment: A period following Formal Recruitment with informal recruitment without scheduled parties. This is designated by the university Panhellenic
Panhellenic Council: The collegiate governing body of all NPC sororities.
Philanthropy: A charitable service project/event sponsored by a sorority.
Potential Member: A woman who is not a member of a sorority chapter and who could potentially participate in recruitment and receive a bid to join a chapter.
Preferential Bidding: A system used at the conclusion of Formal Recruitment when potential new members and sororities indicate choices.
Quota: System used to equalize, in general, the number of members in each campus group. It means the number of girls who may be pledged by each group in Recruitment. The quota is set by the university Panhellenic and depends on the number of potential new members and sororities on a particular campus.
Recruitment: The process of recruiting women to become members of the Greek community. Formal recruitment week consists of events hosted by each of the sorority chapters in which Potential Members are invited to attend.
Recruitment Counselor (Rho Chi): During Recruitment Week there is an advisor for large groups of potential new members. The advisors, sometimes called Rho Chi, are active sorority members who keep their sorority affiliation a secret during Recruitment Week.
Reference (RIF) or Recommendation (Rec): A form used by sororities with information pertaining to the potential new member; each sorority has slightly different informational needs. A reference/recommendation is voluntarily written by an alumna of each sorority. Alumnae use these forms to call a potential new member to their group’s attention but it is the sorority chapter’s privilege to choose who shall receive invitations.
Silence: The period of time when there is absolutely NO contact between potential members and sorority members.
Snap Bid: At the close of Recruitment Week some sororities are permitted to accept additional members. Check with your university Panhellenic for the rules pertaining to snap bids.
