UNF Greek Life

Dictionary

Greek Speak
Active	A member who has been initiated into lifelong fraternity or sorority membership and is active at the collegiate level.
Alumna / Alumnus	A member of a sorority/fraternity who is no longer in college.
Badge	The pin of an initiated member.
Bid	A formal invitation to join a fraternity or sorority.
Bid Day	The last day of recruitment when new members accept their bids and officially join their new organization.
Big	Short for “big sister” or “big brother”; an active member who serves as a mentor for newer members.
Brother	A term used by fraternity members to refer to one another.
Chapter	A local group of the larger national organization.
Chapter Consultant	An alumna or alumnus who works for the national organization and maintains a close advisory relationship with a local chapter.
Closed Relations	A period of time when conversation and contact between potential new members and fraternity active members and alumni are strictly limited by the recruitment guidelines.
Colony	A student organization in the final stage before being installed as a charted chapter of a nationally affiliated organization.
Continuous Open Recruitment	A process that allows chapters to continuously recruit and bid new members outside of the formal recruitment period.
Deferred Recruitment	A policy that could be in the future at UNF that requires students to delay fraternity or sorority membership until the second semester of their freshman year.
Formal Recruitment	The period of time set aside by the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association for meeting potential members.
Fraternity	The name applied to all Greek-letter organizations. Informally, this name applies to men's groups while women’s organizations may be sororities or female fraternities.
Greeks	Members of a general Greek-letter fraternity or sorority.
Greek Week	An annual celebration in which chapters participate in educational, social, and service events. It is a time for all Greek organizations to unify.
Initiation	The formal ceremony that brings a new member into full Greek membership. Each chapter has a different set of requirements that must be met in order to be initiated.
Intake	The process by which NPHC and MCC chapters recruit, inform, and initiate new members.
Interfraternity Council (IFC)	The governing body of seven nationally recognized fraternities at UNF. IFC oversees Formal Recruitment for its member chapters.
Legacy	Someone whose mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, or grandfather is an initiated member of a Greek organization.
Line	The new member class of a NPHC or MCC chapter.
Little	Short for “little sister” or “little brother”; a newer member who is mentored by an older member of the organization.
Multi-Cultural Council (MCC)	The governing body of one culturally based chapter at UNF.
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)	The governing body of six nationally recognized fraternities and sororities at UNF, five of which are active and official on UNF’s campus.
National Panhellenic Conference (NPC)	The governing body for 26 national and international sororities and female fraternities, four of which are active and operate on UNF’s campus.
North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC)	A conference of men’s private fraternities founded in 1909, which includes 66 member national and international fraternal organizations comprising 5500 chapters in the United States and Canada.
New Member	A potential member who has accepted the bid of a fraternity or sorority, but who has not been initiated.
New Member Educator	The chapter officer whooversees the development of new members and prepares them for initiation.
New Member Program	The period of learning about fraternity and sorority life prior to initiation. In addition to learning the history of the organization, new members may attend presentations on topics such as study skills, etiquette, social awareness, acquaintance rape, substance abuse, and other important issues.
Open Recruitment	The period after Formal Recruitment in which fraternities may recruit and offer bids without scheduled events through IFC.
Panhellenic Association (Panhel)	The governing body for four nationally recognized sororities and female fraternities at UNF.
Philanthropy	A service project sponsored by a chapter from which donations of goods, money, and/or time are given to charitable organizations.
Pledge	see “New Member.”
Potential New Member	A college man or woman who is participating in Recruitment.
Preferential Bidding	The process of mutual selection between Panhellenic sororities and potential new members.
Probate Show	The introduction of new members of a NPHC chapter to the UNF Greek and UNF campus/Jacksonville communities.
Quota	A specified number of women a Panhellenic sorority may offer bids to during formal recruitment.
Recruitment Counselor	An initiated member of a Panhellenic sorority who guides potential new members through the formal recruitment process.
Recruitment Guidlines	Guidelines set forth by the Interfraternity Council to ensure a fair and stress-free Recruitment process.
Rush	see “Formal Recruitment.”
Silence	A period of time when conversation and contact between potential new members and Panhellenic sorority active members and alumnae are strictly limited by recruitment guidelines.
Sister	A term used by sorority members to refer to one another.
Soror	An initiated member of a NPHC sorority.
Sorority	A group of women joined together in friendship for leadership and academic purposes.