Greek Alphabet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Terms

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• Active: A woman who has been initiated into lifelong sorority membership.

• Alumna: An initiated sorority member who has graduated from college.

• Bid: A formal invitation given to a potential new member to join a sorority.

• Chapter: The local group of a national sorority.

• Initiation: A formal ceremony through which new members become active members, sisters, of a sorority.

• Interfraternity Council (IFC): The governing body of fraternities at Miami University. IFC operates under the affiliation requirements of the National Interfraternity Council (NIC).

• Legacy: A woman whose mother, sister or grandmother is an active member or alumna of a sorority.

• Multicultural Greek Council (MGC): The umbrella organization of Miami University’s culturally-based organizations. MGC is the supporting organization to all represented chapters and their operations individually and collectively.

• National Panhellenic Conference (NPC): A national organization composed of 26 member sororities, each of which is autonomous as a social, Greek letter society composed of both undergraduates and alumnae.

• National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC): A national organization composed of four sororities and five fraternities whose membership is historically African-American, and locally the supporting council for these groups.

• New Member: A woman who has accepted a sorority’s bid for membership but has not yet been initiated.

• Panhellenic Association (PA): The representative governing body of all sororities. The Panhellenic Association operates under the direction of the National Panhellenic Council (NPC).

• Philanthropy: A charitable fund-raiser or service project sponsored by a sorority or fraternity.

• Rho Gamma: A sorority member who leads a Recruitment group of PNMs through the stages of Recruitment. She is unbiased and is willing to honestly answer any questions about sororities and recruitment.

• Potential New Member (PNM): A woman who is participating in recruitment, commonly referred to as a PNM.

• Quota: The maximum number of new members a sorority may accept through Primary Recruitment.

• Sister: A term used by sorority members in the same chapter to refer to one another.

• Sprite Dates: A weekend in the fall semester where potential new members can meet women in recruiting Panhellenic chapters before primary recruitment in the spring.