RUSH terms everyone should know!


ACTIVE - a person who has been initiated into a lifelong membership of a Greek organization. Generally, the term is used to reference a member who is currently an undergraduate. However, it is preferable to use the terms "undergraduate member" or "student member" for those still in school.

ALUMNA - a sorority member who is no longer a student. The plural is Alumnae.

ALUMNUS ("Alum") - a fraternity member who is no longer a student. The plural is Alumni.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - an organization of alumni from an individual fraternity or sorority. The association may be based on geographical location or chapter.

BADGE - the symbol worn by the initiated member of a Greek-letter organization.

BID - An invitation to join a fraternity or sorority.

BLACKBALL - During the process of determining which rushees shall receive bids, one brother or sister may veto the bid. This veto action is called a "blackball."

BROTHER - an initiated member of a fraternity.

CHANCELLOR - another term for the President or leader of the organization.

CHAPTER - The campus group of a national organization. Within each organization, chapters are usually referenced via a Greek-letter order. For example, the founding chapter would be the "Alpha Chapter," and the second chapter is usually the "Beta Chapter."

CHAPTER ADVISOR - an alumnus who establishes and maintains a close advisory relationship with a chapter and serves as a teacher, counselor and friend.

COLONY - a student organization in the final stage prior to being installed as a chartered chapter of a Greek-letter organization.

DEPLEDGE - the termination of a pledge's relationship with a Greek-letter organziation.

DRY RUSH - On many campuses, alcohol is forbidden from all events associated with introducing the fraternity/sorority to rushees.

EXCHANGE - an activity where the members of one Greek-letter group visits the chapter of another Greek-letter group for a social event.

FORMAL RUSH - the 'official' rush period of the year with specific scheduled events. On many campuses, the most concentrated period with Formal Rush for entertaining and selecting pledges is known as "Rush Week".

FRATERNITY - The name informally applied to a Greek-letter brotherhood. Formally, both men's and women's groups are called fraternities, though many of the women's groups refer to themselves as a "Fraternity for Women"

G.D.I. - a student who is unaffiliated with all Greek-letter organizations ("God Damn Independent")

GREEKS - Students affiliated with Greek-letter fraternities and sororities.

HAZING - any willful act or practice by a member or associate member, directed against a member or associate member, which, with or without intent, is likely to: cause bodily harm or danger, offensive punishment, or disturbing pain, compromise the person's dignity; cause embarrassment or shame in public; cause the person to be the object of malicious amusement or ridicule; cause psychological harm or substantial emotional strain; and impair academic efforts. In addition, hazing is any requirement by a member or pledge which compels a member or associate member to participate in any activity which is illegal, is contrary to a member's or associate member's moral or religious beliefs, or is contrary to the rules and regulations of the fraternity, institution of learning, and civil authorities.

HOUSE - a chapter's physical facility which serves as its home.

HOUSE CORPORATION - a legal entity holding title to any real property (land and buildings) for a chapter's living/meeting purposes. This alumni body has basic responsibilities relative to property ownership and maintenance.

HOUSEMOTHER/HOUSEMAN - a woman/man residing in a chapter house, who is a friend, advisor, hostess and chaperone...in every way a house mother/father. Not every house has one.

INACTIVE MEMBER - a member attending the same institution in which his/her undergraduate chapter is located, who (upon the recommendation of the undergraduate chapter and approval of the Alumni Board of Trustees) shall be defined as "inactive". With such designation, the inactive member shall have no material participation in undergraduate chapter activities, such as social activities, living in the chapter house, or voting at undergraduate chapter meetings.

INFORMAL RUSH - a continuous, open rush period with no specific, scheduled, system-wide activities of rushing and pledging. Bids may be extended and accepted at any time. This is also known as "Open Rush."

INITIATION - A formal ceremony by which new members become initiated members.

INTEREST GROUP - a group of individuals on campus in the first stage of the process leading to installation as a chapter of a Greek-letter organization.

INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL (IFC) - The governing body of the fraternities at UNM.

LAVALIER - a piece of jewelry depicting the letters of one's organization. The lavalier is often worn casually and indicates one's affiliation with the group.

LAVALIERING - the practice of a fraternity member giving his lavalier to a woman signifying a committed relationship between the two. As the relationship becomes more serious, the next step would be a "Pinning."

LEGACY - A student whose parent, grandparent, or brother/sister is a member of a particular fraternity or sorority. Typically, legacies are extended full consideration during the rush process.

LITTLE SISTERS - a woman's auxiliary of some chapters which are prohibited by the National Interfraternity Council and most national fraternities.

LIVE-IN - the term generally applied to members of an organization that actually live within the chapter house.

LOCAL FRATERNITY - "Local" - a Greek-letter group which exists on a campus but which has no affiliation with a national Greek organization.

MASCOT - generally a dog or cat who is an honorary member of the organization because it either lives in the chapter house or (as the pet of one of the members) is often around the chapter house.

NEW MEMBER - A student in his or her first phase of membership in a sorority or fraternity (before being initiated).

PANHELLENIC - The governing body of the sororities at UNM.

PHILANTHROPY - Community service.

PINNING - the practice of a fraternity member giving his member's Badge to a woman. [When a woman is "pinned," if she is a member of a sorority, the sisters will be brought together in a private, candlelit ceremony where the secret pinning will be announced to the sisterhood and then celebrated.] This step is often preceded by a "lavaliering" and is a precursor to engagement.

PREFERENTIAL BIDDING - Very often, sororities use a computer-based system for matching rushees and the organizations. The bidding process involves a ranking system by both the rushee and the organization to indicate preferences. The computer then makes the determinations based on certain rules.

RUSH - Membership recruitment drive. A series of events offering members and potential members the opportunity to get to know each other.

RUSHEE - a non-member who is eligible to participate in the rush program, visiting Greek organizations with an interest in possibly affiliating with one organization.

SISTER - an initiated member of a sorority.

SORORITY - an individual women's Greek-letter organization. This is the term commonly used to distinguish between men's (fraternities) and women's (sororities) organizations. As noted previously, some sororities are identified as a fraternity (or fraternity for women) in their official name.