| Alumni/Alumnae |
A graduate member of a fraternity or sorority. Many
remain active with their chapters by serving as Alumni Advisors or on chapter
House Corporations. |
| Bridging the Gap |
A quarterly lecture series of diversity issues jointly sponsored by IFC, MGC, NPHC, and Panhellenic. |
| Chapter |
The local body affiliated with a national organization.
Also the common term
for weekly meetings of the fraternity or
sorority.
|
| Colony |
A group of men or women on a college campus who desire
to affiliate their group with an inter/national fraternal organization.
Colony status is the first step to establishing a chapter on a campus. |
| Dance Marathon |
Originally created 31 years ago by Alpha Tau Omega
Fraternity as a chapter philanthropy event. It is one of the largest
student-run philanthropy in the United States raising approximately $500,000
annually
for charity. Fraternity and sorority members and their chapters continue
to play an integral role in its success.
|
| Dues |
Fees paid by members to their chapter to cover operating
costs for the organization, national membership fees, and programming/social
events. Dues can include membership fees and housing and meal fees. They
are often collected by the chapters through the University Billing system. |
| emPower |
A Panhellenic organization that focuses on women’s
issues. Founded at Northwestern, it is now a national organization with
chapters at several universities. |
Expansion/
Extension |
When the University invites a new inter/national
fraternity or sorority to establish a chapter at Northwestern. |
| Evans Scholars |
Founded at Northwestern, it is now a national organization
with chapters at several Universities. Men and women earn full scholarships
from the Western Golf Association to the University and function in much
the same way as a fraternity chapter. Members live in the Evans Scholars
House all four years. Evans Scholars is a member of IFC. |
| Firesides |
Educational programs sponsored by fraternities and
sororities. Panhellenic sororities sponsor firesides in the fall as
a way for potential members to meet the chapter. |
| Fraternity |
These are self-perpetuating groups that provide an
organized social life for their members in college and universities as
a contributing aspect of their educational experience. General fraternities
offer membership to students without regard to field of study, class year,
or grade attainment above typical minimum requirements. Many of the National
Panhellenic Conference (women's) organizations exist as fraternities,
though the generic term "fraternity" and "sorority" is
used to distinguish between men and women’s organizations, respectively. |
| GAMMA |
Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol.
A national organization with a chapter at Northwestern. Members promote
responsible use of alcohol and provide resources for alternative social
programming. |
| Gamma Sigma Alpha |
A national honor society that recognizes Greek students
of at least junior standing for outstanding academic achievement. The minimum
grade requirement for membership is a 3.65/4.0 GPA. |
| Gone Greek Night |
An annual event sponsored by the Greek Community,
which is a celebration for its newest members. Traditionally the fraternity
new members serenade the sororities and then chapters sponsor social functions
that evening. |
| Greek Awards |
Awards presented annually in the Spring at the Greek Awards to recognize fraternity and sorority chapters who have excelled in areas such as scholarship, service/philanthropy, public relations, recruitment, etc. Awards are given out in individual categories and one IFC fraternity, one MGC chapter, one NPHC chapter, and one Panhellenic sorority is recognized for having the best overall chapter operations and programming during the past year. |
| Greek Emerging Leaders |
A class held each fall for new members of fraternities and sororities in an effort to educate potential leaders and promote interfraternalism. |
| GreekScene |
An annual step-show sponsored by NPHC. It usually takes place during Winter or Spring quarter. |
| Greek Week |
A series of events held in the spring to bring together the fraternity and sorority community and celebrate being Greek. Past events include a service project, NU Perspectives speaker, Greek Olympics, Greek Awards, and an All-Greek Cubs game. |
| Hazing |
The University defines hazing as any action take or
situation created intentionally, whether on or off University premises,
to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or
ridicule.
Any incidents of hazing are investigated and adjudicated by the University,
governing council, or the national organization.
|
| Homecoming |
An annual fall event that revolves around a home
football games. There are several activities; the two most well attended
are the game and the parade. The parade held either the night before or
the morning of the game traditionally has strong Greek involvement. Many
chapters sponsor and create a float and march in the parade. |
| Honoraries |
Organizations that recognize members for excellence
in certain areas. Northwestern’s Greek honoraries include Gamma Sigma
Alpha, Rho Lambda, and Order of Omega. |
| House Corporations |
Legal entities that lease the chapter houses from
the University and manage them on behalf of their fraternities and sororities.
All fraternity/sorority housing and meal fees paid to the University are
forwarded to the chapters or house corporations for operating and maintaining
the structures. |
| House Directors |
A live-in adult or graduate student employed by the
chapter house corporation. His or her duties and expectations vary from
chapter to chapter. Typically the house directors supervise employed staff,
managing and maintaining the chapter house and kitchen, and serving as
hostesses or host for events within the chapter house.
Each Panhellenic sorority has a live-in house director, while several of
the housed fraternities also employ house directors. |
| Initiation |
The final formal ceremony, which new members experience
in order to become full members within the organization. |
| Intake |
The term used by NPHC chapters for the recruitment
process for their members. |
| IFC |
The Interfraternity Council represents 17 fraternities
affiliated with the NIC. The Interfraternity Council is made up of the
presidents of each chapter and an executive board that is elected by the
Presidents. The exec board creates programming and represents the interests
of the Fraternity Community to the campus and the University. The council
holds “forums” every two weeks where issues and events are
discussed. |
| Judicial Boards |
Each council has a judicial board made up of members
of fraternities and sororities respectively. These groups hear cases and
make disciplinary decisions involving chapters. Headed by members of the
councils and executive boards, these boards were created to insure that
Greek members govern themselves. Often referred to as "J-Board". |
| May Sing |
Annual event held each spring. Chapters pair and create skits and musical acts that often
parody current events and the Northwestern scene. |
| MGCA |
Stands for the Mid-America Greek Council Association. Each February, representatives from fraternity and sorority communities throughout the Midwestern United States meet in Chicago for a weekend conference. |
| Mission Statement |
The Greek Mission Statement, adopted in spring, 1999 is:
“We commit to cultivating a unified Greek community of diverse
individuals that fosters personal excellence, scholastic achievement,
social enrichment, and civic responsibility. We strive to be an exemplar
of sisterhood and brotherhood for the Northwestern community and beyond.”
|
| Multicultural Greek Council |
The MGC represents the 5 culturally based fraternities
and sororities on campus. MGC serves as the governing body for NU’s
Asian and Latino/a chapters. |
| NALFO |
NALFO stands for the National Association of Latino
Fraternal Organizations. NALFO serves as the umbrella organization for
Latino Greek Letter Organizations. NALFO was established in 1998. |
| New Memeber Conference |
The new member conference is held on a Saturday for
all the new members of the Fraternity and Sorority Community. The new member
conference consists of a speaker and several workshops for the new members. |
| NIC |
NIC stands for the North-American Interfraternity
Conference. Each national fraternity is a member of the NIC, which meets
quarterly to discuss issues facing fraternities on a National level. NIC
also organizes different national programming efforts such as UIFI, IMPACT,
speakers, and as a resource for various campuses across the country. |
| NPC |
NPC stands for the National Panhellenic Conference.
The National Panhellenic Conference oversees the Panhellenic associations
on the various campuses. All of the Panhellenic sororities at Northwestern
University are members of NPC. |
| NMPC |
The New Member Panhellenic Council consists of two
new members of each sorority that work together to unite the new members
of the sororities. NMPC raises money through different events they organize
to offer scholarships to new members in the fall. NMPC is a great leadership
opportunity for new members and is overseen by the Vice President Education
of Panhel. |
| NPHC |
NPHC stands for the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
The name of the umbrella organization at Northwestern for the 6 historically
African-American fraternities and sororities is also the name of the national
organization overseeing all 9 African-American fraternities and sororities. |
| Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life |
The University provides two full time professional
staff members to work with the Greek Community and it’s chapters.
The OFSL staff serve as a resource
to the 41 chapters, 4 governing councils, and 3 Greek honorary societies.
Their office is in Scott Hall Room 29 and can be reached at 847-491-4522
if you have any questions. |
| Order of Omega |
Greek leadership honorary society for men and women,
which recognizes leadership, scholarship and commitment to the campus community.
Order of Omega sponsors May Sing in the spring. |
| Panhellenic Association |
The Panhellenic Association represents the 12 sororities
affiliated with the National Panhellenic Conference. Officers of Panhellenic
meet with Panhellenic delegates from each chapter to discuss issues facing
the membership. Panhellenic also plans events for the members of the community
such as Greek Week, NU Perspectives, coordinates recruitment, and Gone
Greek Night. |
Recruitment Counselors
|
Recruitment Counselors are the recruitment advisors for Panhellenic sorority recruitment. Recruitment Counselors are disaffiliated from their sororities in the fall and until the formal recruitment process ends so that they can be unbiased counselors for the potential new members. |
| Rho Lambda |
Rho Lambda is a Greek honorary society for Greek women
that recognizes outstanding women for their leadership efforts in Panhellenic
as well as their academic endeavors. |
| |
|
| Risk Management |
The practice of following safety guidelines, which
help to protect our members and guests when they attend or participate
in chapter-sponsored events. By better managing those factors that we can
control (size of crowd, amount and type of alcohol consumed, etc.) we can
help to reduce the chance of someone being injured and protect our organization
and it’s members from physical and legal harm. |
| Risk Management Observation Team |
A group of Greek men and women who observe on campus
IFC and Panhellenic chapter events to ensure
the safety of those involved. Members of the RMOT come by each registered
social event and observe the event for potential or existing violations
of the Risk Management Policy. |
| Ritual |
Ceremonies and traditions that fraternity and sorority
chapters have done consistently since their organization’s founding.
Ritual represents the highest ideals of the organization. Many fraternity
and sorority members refer to their initiation ceremony as their "Ritual". |
| Roundtables |
Leaders of the Greek community often have roundtables
as a means to bring together specific officers from each organization.
Executive board members often hold the meetings from the governing councils.
Examples of these roundtables include: social chair roundtables, scholarship
chair roundtables, President roundtables, etc. |
| Recruitment |
Recruitment is the process in which the Greek organizations
on our campus recruit new members. Recruitment at NU is deferred and does
not take place until the beginning of second quarter for first year students.
Recruitment for both fraternities and sororities consists of several events
that culminate in bids (or invitations) for membership. Sorority recruitment
is much more formal than the fraternities, but each allow both active members
and potential new members to meet and decide which organization is right
for them to join. |
| Substance-Free |
"Substance-Free" is a term used for houses
whose facilities and/or activities are substance and/or alcohol free. |
| Sorority |
These are self-perpetuating groups that provide an
organized social life for their members in college and universities as
a contributing aspect of their educational experience. Sororities offer
membership to students without regard to field of study, class year, or
grade attainment above typical minimum requirements. Many of the National
Panhellenic Conference (women's) organizations exist as fraternities,
though the generic term "fraternity" and "sorority" is
used to distinguish between men and women’s organizations, respectively. |
| Scholarship |
Scholarship describes the importance of academics
in college. Fraternities and sororities often have scholarship chairs to
encourage academic excellence among their members. Scholarship is fundamental
to Greek life and deemed very important by each organization. |
| Step Show |
Traditional events sponsored by NPHC or MGC Chapters.
Members perform routines that involve chanting and dancing/stomping. |
| UIFI |
UIFI stands for the Undergraduate Interfraternity
Institute sponsored by NIC. UIFI takes place as 12 sessions over the summer.
Greek leaders on campuses from all over the country attend and develop
new leadership skills and gain new ideas in order to develop concrete plans
for change on his/her own campus. UIFI is taught by various prominent leaders
on the national level, and also allows students from all over the country
to get together and share ideas for programming and scholarships so that
each individual Greek community can be the best it can be. |
| University Billing System |
The process through which most fraternities and sororities
collect members’ dues. Chapter dues, and room and board fees are
collected by the University on student’s tuition bills and then forwarded
to their chapters. |
