A sorority is a social organization for women, providing a strong community, friendship, and support system for its members. Each chapter at Clemson and other universities is part of a larger national network. They have their own rituals, traditions, symbols, and sometimes housing. Sororities also focus on giving back through community service and philanthropy, alongside hosting social events and networking opportunities. Joining a sorority is a way for women to make lasting friendships, develop leadership skills, and get involved in campus life.

Clemson University is home to 13 Panhellenic sororities!

Important Definitions

Party

A “party” refers to the scheduled timeslots where PNMs are in chapter recruitment spaces during the Recruitment week. These parties provide an opportunity for potential new members to meet current sorority members, learn about the organization's values and activities, and determine if they feel a connection with the sorority.

COB

"COB" stands for "Continuous Open Bidding." It refers to the process by which sororities extend bids to potential new members outside of the formal recruitment period. COB allows sororities to recruit additional members to their organization after the formal recruitment events have concluded. Not all chapters at CU have a COB process.

Pi Chi (aka PX, ΠX)

A Pi Chi is a member of the Panhellenic community who has chosen to disassociate from her own chapter to help unbiasedly lead a group of PNMs through the primary recruitment process.

Recruitment Counselor

Another word for Pi Chi

PNM

A Potential New Member (PNM) is a woman who is registered and/or intends to participate in Fall Primary Recruitment at Clemson University. A Potential New Member is also any high school student (grades 9-12), who is considering coming to Clemson or anyone with the intent to participate in CPA Fall Primary Recruitment in the coming year.

Bid

A bid refers to an official invitation extended by a sorority to a prospective member to join their organization. It signifies that the sorority has chosen the individual to become a member based on mutual interest and compatibility.

Bid Day

The last day of recruitment, when potential new members receive and open bids to join our chapters, making them new members of those chapters. Each chapter will usually host a Bid Day activity to help the new members get to know each other and the rest of the chapter. There is no alcohol use or male attendees during recruitment or Bid Day.

New Member

A New Member is a woman who has a received a bid from a CPA sorority but is not yet initiated into the chapter.

Active

An initiated member of a sorority currently in college.

Intentional Single Preference

When a woman lists only one chapter on her membership recruitment acceptance binding agreement (MRABA) following the preference round of primary recruitment.

Legacy

A daughter, sister or granddaughter of an initiated member of a sorority. Typically, different NPC member organizations have different definitions of legacies. Being a legacy does not guarantee a bid to a particular sorority. Each NPC member organization has its own policy for invitations to legacies during recruitment.

Quota

The number of potential new members that each chapter can offer bids to during primary recruitment. This is determined with a formula involving the number of chapters and the number of women participating in bid matching.

Recommendation Letter

A form completed by an alumna member of a sorority recommending a potential new member for membership. Recommendations may be more important at some campuses than others.

Silence period

A period of time after the end of membership recruitment events and prior to the distribution of bids when there is no communication between potential new members and sorority members.

Snap Bidding

An option available to chapters that did not match to quota. Chapters may offer bids to potential new members whose preferences were not matched after preference round. Snap bids should be coordinated and extended through the College Panhellenic, prior to the distribution of bids and the start of Bid Day activities.

Total

The allowable chapter size on a campus, as determined by the College Panhellenic, including new and active members. Chapters that fall under total may be allowed to participate in continuous open bidding until they reach total.

Values-based recruitment

A recruitment style that focuses on meaningful conversations between collegiate members and potential new members with the goal of recruiting women who will have a positive impact on chapters and the College Panhellenic community. Nonessential features such as skits, elaborate decorations and costumes are removed from the process, and the focus is on the values, benefits and obligations of membership for each organization.

Disassociated

Occurs when a recruitment counselor temporarily separates herself from her sorority during the recruitment process to act as an unbiased resource for members participating in recruitment. After the recruitment process, she rejoins her sorority.

Rush

A term from the past that was used to describe the recruitment process. This term comes from the early 1800s, when fraternities and sororities would "rush” to the train station when freshman arrived to campus in order to get them before another organization got to them first. Today, "rush" has been replaced by "recruitment", signifying the active role a chapter takes to find the best members who align with their organizational values. Walking around campus, you are likely to hear both terms used interchangeably, but officially the term is now “recruitment”.