"New member" is the politically correct term for pledge. I don't like it at all since someone really isn't a member of a group until they are initiated.

Yes I agree which is why the way I interpretted it made sense. the term "member" means to be a part of. And I do not like to consider these ladies a part of my family especially knowing they can drop or be dropped at any moment.

let me see if I understand:

New Member- NPC-- formerly called a pledge
NPHC-- someone that has just been initiated

Pledge- NPC- someone that is not yet initated but has pledged themselves to join that organization after they have finished a pledge period
NPHC- I remember being told once that NPHC orgs no longer pledge. So I am not sure what someone that is on-line is called. Neo?

For NPC, once you accept a bid, you are considered to be a member of the organization to a certain extent. For NPHC, are you not considered part of the org until you are initiated?

I am not trying to offend anyone, so if I am asking questions that cannot/shouldn't be asked, sorry!

Reasoning like that is why the NPC chose to switch over from pledge to new member- to show that the girls are basically sisters from the moment they accept their bids and are almost guaranteed to be initiated.

That makes sense on paper, but it doesn't feel right, to call them members. But I guess rules are rules and they are there for a reason. Thanks for the insight it was very helpful.

Correct for NPHC

No, a neophyte is another name for a new member in the NPHC. Inductee, i.e. they have been inducted on the line, little sister, etc. In Delta we still use the group name from before MIP.

You are considered a part of the organization in that you have been invited to membership and are going through the process. But you are not a member until you are duly initiated. In fact no secrets are revealed until after initiation. Things like the meaning of the colors are not considered secrets, but rather historical information taught during the process. A person could de-pledge and not know anything more than could be found by reading certain books.

No offense taken.

I am an AEPhi as well, our nationals changed their policy and our new girls are no longer called pledges, they are new members, and newly initiated girls are referred to as new sisters. I believe that this changed in the late nineties.

Ladygreek- thank you for the clarification!

for us, a pledge (inductee/candidate) is referred to as orientee in the general term when referring to someone who is undergoing the process but have yet to be initiatied.

So the "interested lady" process is different from an actual pledge process in LTA? Some of your sisters at my school use the terms interchangeably.

one of our new members got her letters today.
she pledged 2 days ago

anyone can be an interested lady (even those who will never commence/go on line, become orientees). that's what it means. an interested lady is one who is interested in LTA and is in the process of learning more about LTA. we have an interest group where many interested ladies are a part of (the interest group is referred to as Interested Ladies of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. for advertising/student group registration purposes for some schools). that is all i will say, but please believe that we don't use them interchangeably. it's pretty difficult to understand, but definitely there is no "interested lady" process.

That's what I was referring to. Thanks for clearing that up.

cool, that's what i thought. it can get confusing, but i'm trying make it clear without being too vague...:p

I recall being told not to were stiched or embroidered letters as a pledge, but there was several girls who did, I didn't that whole time, but they didn't do anything if you did. The only think we couldn't wear at all where badges. but basically they really don't enforce it too much here