If your “For You” page on TikTok is currently flooded with videos from girls at the University of Alabama (and other schools) posting their “OOTD,” or outfit of the day, during rush week, you’re not alone.
Rush week is returning to colleges across the country, the multi-day event where prospective sorority and fraternity members visit houses, interview with current members and hope to be chosen and initiated into the sisterhood or brotherhood.
There are many terms associated with Greek life that may not make sense to someone who hasn’t participated in sororities or fraternities in college. Here’s a breakdown of some of the popular terms you may hear as rush goes on at different schools over the next few weeks.
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Active
An initiated member of a sorority or fraternity.
Bid
A bid is an invitation to join a sorority or fraternity, usually at the end of recruitment or “rush week.”
Bid day
Bid day is the day when new members officially join the sorority or fraternity, and existing members celebrate the new members.
Big/little
A “big” (short for big sister or big brother) is an assigned older member of a sorority or fraternity that mentors the new member, called a “little” (short for little sister or little brother.)
Brother/sister
The colloquial name that members of the same fraternity or sorority call each other.
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Chapter
The local campus fraternity or sorority organization, part of a bigger, national Greek organization.
Dues
The fees associated with being a member of a sorority or fraternity. Often, these dues pay for events, operational expenses and programming.
Fraternity/sorority
A social organization typically for undergraduates at a college, with fraternities reserving membership for men and sororities reserving membership for women. Most colleges have multiple fraternities and sororities to choose for membership, which is lifelong, even after graduation.
Greek life
The general term for all associated with people in sororities and fraternities at a college.
Hazing
“Any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers them, regardless of a person’s willingness to participate,” according to StopHazing.org. Hazing has often occurred during initiation processes to Greek life chapters despite being illegal in dozens of states and is banned by most colleges and universities.
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Letters
The names of sororities and fraternities use two to three letters from the Greek alphabet.
Philanthropy
Sororities and fraternities have organizations and charities they support, including through donations and volunteering.
Pledge
A new member of a sorority or fraternity who has not yet been formally initiated into the organization.
Pledging
The orientation process for a new member of a sorority or fraternity, where the member has joined the organization but is not yet fully initiated.
PNM (potential new member)
A person going through the recruitment process interested in joining a sorority or fraternity.
Preference or ‘pref’
Also called “pref” for short, preference day is typically a formal party during Rush week where people going through the recruitment process make their final decisions on the Greek organization where they hope to be asked to join.
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Recruitment
Also called rush, recruitment is the process potential sorority or fraternity members go through in order to join where they meet with all participating Greek organizations on campus, go through interviews and other rounds before they may be offered a formal bid to join.
Rush
Also called recruitment, rush is the process potential sorority or fraternity members go through in order to join where they meet with all participating Greek organizations on campus, go through interviews and other rounds before they may be offered a formal bid to join.
