It’s All Greek To Me!

ACTIVE: A sorority member currently in college, who has been formally initiated by her chapter.

ALABAMA PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION (APA): APA represents NPC and is the coordinating body for the NPC women’s organizations on The University of Alabama’s campus.

ALUMNA: An initiated sorority member who is no longer active in a collegiate chapter.

BID: A formal invitation to join a sorority.

CHAPTER TOTAL: The allowable chapter size as determined in alignment with NPC Policy.

CONTINUOUS OPEN BIDDING (COB): The opportunity for a sorority that has not met the Campus Total to recruit additional members.

INTAKE: Also referred to as Membership Intake, it is a process through which NPHC and UGC organizations select new members.

INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL (IFC): The governing body of fraternities at The University of Alabama, many of which are affiliated with the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC).

LEGACY: A PNM whose mother or sister is an alumna of, or active member in, a particular sorority.

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION OR REFERENCE: A written letter from an alumna, on the sorority’s official recommendation form, introducing and recommending a Potential New Member for membership.

PARTY STOP: This refers to when all parties, or events, are temporarily paused during Recruitment due to an emergency in any of the chapter houses.

MANUAL OF INFORMATION (MOI): Handbook containing historical, procedural, instructional, philosophical, and practical information about the National Panhellenic Conference and College Panhellenic Associations.

MUTUAL SELECTION: The term used to describe how potential new members (PNMs) receive invitations during the Recruitment Process to select chapters. While PNMs may prioritize one chapter over another, if a chapter does not extend them an invitation, they may receive invitations from chapters who a PNM prioritizes lower than another.

MRABA (MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT ACCEPTANCE BINDING AGREEMENT): A written letter or statement from an alumna, on the sorority’s official recommendation form, introducing and recommending a Potential New Member for membership.

NATIONAL PANHELLENIC CONFERENCE (NPC): Made up of 26 women’s-only inter/national member organizations, the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is the world’s largest trade association specifically charged with advancing the sorority experience. NPC is the coordinating body for 18 of the sororities within the Alabama Panhellenic Council, and provides guidelines for APA operations.

NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL (NPHC): A council composed of the nine (“Divine Nine”) historically African American Greek-letter organizations.

NEW MEMBER: The period when a woman joins a sorority but is not yet initiated into the chapter.

PHILANTHROPY: A national and/or local charity that a sorority sponsors, donating time and money through service to promote human welfare.

POTENTIAL NEW MEMBER (PNM): Any woman who is eligible to participate in Primary Recruitment or Continuous Open Bidding.

PRIMARY RECRUITMENT: A designated membership recruitment period during which a series of organized events are held to select new members.

QUOTA ADDITION: A procedure used to help PNMs who maximize their options during Recruitment receive an invitation to membership.

QUOTA: The number of women a sorority may pledge during primary recruitment.

SINGLE INTENTIONAL PREFERENCE: When a PNM attends more than one preference event but limits her membership selections by not listing all her sorority options on her MRABA.

SNAP BID: A rare procedure used at the close of bid matching to help chapters reach quota before bid distribution.

UNITED GREEK COUNCIL (UGC): A council composed of 8 special interest Greek-letter organizations.

VALUES-BASED RECRUITMENT: Focusing on how your values, such as academics, equality, inclusion, and service, align with different chapters’ values during recruitment.