To an outsider, Greek life may seem very confusing. This section of the web page will hopefully shed some light on some of the confusing Greek Terms and ideas.

Alumni/ae: Members of a fraternity or sorority who have graduated from college.

Active (Initiate): Any member of a fraternity or sorority who has been initiated into a fraternity or sorority at the collegiate level.

Badge (Pin): The symbol or pin of an initiated member.

Bid: A formal invitation to join a fraternity or sorority.

Bid Day: The last day of recruitment where bids are distributed to potential new members.

Big Brother/Big Sister: An active member of a fraternity or sorority who serves as a sponsor, advisor, and guide to a new member throughout their new member educational process.

Brother/Sister: Term used by fraternity or sorority members to refer to one another.

Chapter: A campus group of an international fraternity or sorority.

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 newly formed affiliate of a national organization that has not yet received its charter. The members of a colony are referred to as "founders."

Community Service: Any project or event specific to assisting the community, including volunteering, donating time, labor, or activity by a chapter.

COR/COB (Continuous Open Recruitment/Continuous Open Bidding): The recruitment period immediately following Formal Recruitment, where chapters may host individual recruitment events.

Formal Recruitment: The “official” recruitment period of the year with specific scheduled events. This is the most concentrated for entertaining and selecting new members is known as "Recruitment Week". The term Recruitment has replaced the term Rush in most instances.

Hazing: Any act or tradition that endangers the physical, mental or emotional well-being of a new member and/or member. Any act or tradition that requests, encourages or suggests violation of city, county, state or national law. Any act or tradition that is mentally or physically degrading. Any act or tradition that requires a personal or menial task of a new member and/or member, regardless of location, intent, or consent of the participants.

IFC: Interfraternity Council; the local governing body for NCSU fraternities.

Initiation: A sacred, non-hazing ritual that brings new members into active membership.

Lavaliering: The practice of a fraternity member giving his lavalier (a piece of jewelry depicting the letters of one's organization) to a woman signifying a committed relationship between the two. As the relationship becomes more serious, the next step would be "Pinning."

Legacy: A potential new member who is related to a member of a fraternity or sorority.

Little Sister: The new member of a Sorority that is paired up with a Big Sister.

Mixer: An activity where the members of one Greek organization visit the chapter of another Greek organization for a social event.

National: The national or international organization to which a chapter is affiliated. Most have a national board of directors, comprised primarily of alumni, and national headquarters with support staff.

New Member: A student in his or her first phase of membership in a sorority or fraternity (before being initiated). Also known as Pledges Candidate, Line Brother/Sister or Associate Members.

New Member Education Process: The time period in which candidates for active membership (or new members) learn about the organization and participate in brotherhood/sisterhood activities.

New Member Pin: A pin that designates a new member of a Greek organization

NIC: North-American Interfraternity Conference; the governing body of all international IFC organizations.

NPHC: National Pan-Hellenic Council; the local and national governing body for historically African-American fraternities and sororities.

NPC: National Panhellenic Conference; the national governing body for 26 national PHC sororities.

Order of Omega: An national honor society recognizing fraternity and sorority members who excel in academic achievement, Greek leadership and campus involvement.

PHC: Panhellenic Council; the local governing body for NCSU sororities.

Philanthropy: The chapter’s specific charitable organization(s) that they donate money and volunteer hours

Pin: The fraternity/sorority badge of membership.

Potential New Member: A collegiate who is participating in the recruitment process.

Preference Card: After the third round of NPC Formal Rush, a sorority member will be required to fill out a card that lists in 1-2 order which sororities she would most like to receive a bid from. This card must be signed and submitted be eligible to receive a bid from a sorority.

Quota: The number of women each sorority may pledge in a formal recruitment period.

Recommendation: Sometimes a potential member may not be a legacy, but she may know an alumna of a sorority chapter. In these cases, the alumna may choose to write a recommendation or letter of introduction to the chapter of the sorority of which she is a member. This letter generally is a means by which the sorority can get to know a bit more about a potential member since Recruitment events are so short and often hurried in conversation. It is not necessary to have any letters of recommendation to go through the recruitment process.

Recruitment: The mutual selection process that potential new members and actives complete in learning about and selecting membership.

Recruitment Guide (Rho Gamma): She is a member of a sorority on campus. Her post is a coveted one to which she was elected by the Panhellenic Council Executive Officers. During the week of NPC Formal Recruitment, she breaks all ties with her sorority in order to help the potential new members through the experience. She keeps secret her sorority affiliation so that she does not unjustly sway the new members into choosing her sisterhood as the one to join. Her affiliation is revealed on Bid Day after bids have been distributed.

Risk Management: Involves analyzing all exposures to the possibility of loss and determining how to handle these exposures and reduce or transfer the risk.

Ritual: The traditional ceremonies of a chapter, which are usually secret

Scholarship: The Greek community at UTSA strives for high scholarship. A minimum grad point average is required by sororities and fraternities in order to become an initiated member. Each chapter has a scholarship program to provide incentives, coordinate study hours, and to encourage members to achieve their highest academic goals.

Sisterhood/Brotherhood: Intangible, yet the most cherished of assets among all Greek members, sisterhood and brotherhood are the foundations of sorority and fraternity life. Both are difficult to explain, but they can be basically characterized by their most common and identifiable element.

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.

Strict Silence: Not discussing recruitment with non-sorority members outside of the recruitment events

Total: The maximum number of women any PHC chapter is permitted to have for active membership.

Eta Kappa Chapter of Delta Gamma
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Last Updated:1/31/2006
Page Maintained by Kelsey Mitman
© 2006 Eta Kappa, Delta Gamma.