Greek Definitions
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.
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 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.
INITIATION - A formal ceremony by which new members become initiated members.
INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL (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 COUNCIL (MGC) – The governing body of multicultural Greek lettered organizations.
NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC CONFERENCE (NPHC) – The governing body of the historically black Greek lettered organizations.
PANHELLENIC COUNCIL - The governing body of sororities associated with the National Panhellenic Conference.
PINNING - designates the start of a pledge process. The Pledge wears a fraternity/sorority pin while pledging, and at the moment of pinning, officially becomes a pledge.
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 has disaffiliated from her chapter to guide 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.