Active/ Collegiate Member: Someone who has completed their new member period and has been initiated into the sorority or fraternity. Many members refer to them as “actives”, but collegiate member is preferred.
New Member: This term refers to the women that have accepted a bid to a particular sorority chapter but are not yet initiated.
PNM: Potential New Member. It refers to all incoming women going through the recruitment process before they accept a sorority bid.
Advisor: An alumna/ alumni member of a sorority or fraternity that serves as a mentor to a collegiate chapter officer.
National Panhellenic Conference: The National Panhellenic Conference will be the premier advocacy and support organization for its members, member groups, college and alumnae Panhellenic and a proponent of women’s fraternity membership. See our NPC Sororities page for more details.
Pi Chi: A collegiate sorority member who disaffiliates from their individual chapter to help PNMs with an unbiased perspective through recruitment.
Recruitment (Primary Recruitment): The official process for new members to join a sorority. It is a mutual selection process where the PNMs and chapter chose based on their perfect fit. Formal recruitment at NC State lasts about a week.
Preference Night (Pref): The last round of formal sorority recruitment. This is typically more serious than the previous nights, and it is a glimpse into the ritual of the sorority. This is the last party before PNM’s and chapters make their final decisions about membership.
Bid Day: The final day of Primary Recruitment when bids are given out.
Initiation: Formal admittance into the sorority/fraternity. The new members participate in a ceremony that marks formal admittance into the sorority/fraternity. The initiation ceremony is secret and rooted in history.
Badge: The pin of an initiated member.
Bid: An official invitation from a chapter to become a new member.
Quota: The maximum number each sorority can offer bids to during the primary recruitment process. This number is determined by the NPC RFM Specialist assigned to each school and is based on many different factors.
Total: The largest size a chapter can be at any given semester. It traditionally ranges from 130-140 total members at ECU.
Chapter: Each national sorority and fraternity has individual chapters of their organization at different colleges and universities.
Executive Board: Also referred to in some sororities as Executive Council, which includes the elected executive officers of the chapter (i.e. President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, etc).
New Member Educator: This is an initiated member of the sorority who will serve as the new member class’ “teacher” of the chapter. She will be their guide throughout their new member period.
Dues: Fees paid to the organization you are affiliated with. Dues must be paid to remain in “good standing” with your chapter.
House: Many schools have houses dedicated to each Greek organization. In the literal term, this would be where they live. Some schools also refer to the entire organization as a house, for example “what house are you from” meaning “what sorority/ fraternity are you in”?
House Mom: Officially titled Resident Director, which refers to a person hired to manage the sorority house and supervise the home operations.
Legacy: A student whose family member (typically brother/sister, mom/dad, grandmother/grandfather but can also include aunt/uncle) is a member of a particular sorority or fraternity. The student may be given special membership consideration, but not guaranteed a bid.
Philanthropy: Put simply, community service. Typically, each sorority has a nationally and/or locally recognized non-profit agency that they donate time and money too; they refer to this as “their philanthropy”.
Ritual: Symbolic gestures or ceremonies, often kept secret, performed by only the members of the given sorority or fraternity
ECU Panhellenic Association 