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ALUMNA: An initiated sorority member who is no longer active in a collegiate chapter.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

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 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.