Â鶹´«Ã½

Jump to main content

It’s all Greek to me!

ACTIVE: a member of a Greek organization who is currently still enrolled as an undergraduate.

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.

BID: An invitation to join a fraternity or sorority.

BROTHER: an initiated member of a fraternity.

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 ADVISORS: an alumnus who establishes and maintains a close advisory relationship with a chapter and serves as a teacher, counselor, and friend.

DEPLEDGE: the termination of a member's relationship with a Greek-letter organization.

FORMAL RECRUITMENT: the 'official' recruitment period of the year with specific scheduled events for students interested in joining a Greek organization. 

FRATERNITY: The name informally applied to a Greek-letter brotherhood.

INTEREST GROUP: a student organization in the final stage prior to being installed as a chartered chapter of a Greek letter organization.

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

INTERFRATERNITY COÂ鶹´«Ã½IL (IFC): The governing body of fraternities associated with the North American Interfraternity Conference.

LEGACY: A person whose immediate family member is, or was, an active member of a Greek Life organization.

MULTICULTURAL GREEK COÂ鶹´«Ã½IL (MGC): The governing body of multicultural Greek lettered organizations.

NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COÂ鶹´«Ã½IL (NPHC): The governing body of the historically black Greek lettered organizations. Also known as The Divine Nine. 

PANHELLENIC COÂ鶹´«Ã½IL: The governing body of sororities associated with the National Panhellenic Conference.

Potential New Member (PNM): A student who is not in a Greek organization who is eligible to participate in the recruitment process, visiting Greek organizations with an interest in possibly affiliating with one organization.

RECRUITMENT COUNSELOR: A sorority woman who guides potential new members through the Panhellenic Formal Recruitment process.  Also called a Pi Rho Chi or Rho Chi.

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.