Greek Glossary
Here are some commonly used words when discussing Greek organizations and Greek life.

Alumna - a fraternity member (feminine) who is no longer in college; plural is alumnae.

Alumnus - a fraternity member (masculine) who is no longer in college; plural is alumni.

Badge or Pin - the symbol, or pin, worn by initiated members of Greek-letter organizations.

Bid - an official invitation to join/pledge a fraternity or sorority.

Chapter - the local campus group which represents a segment of the large national or international organization. Chapters are usually referred to their Greek-letter name, such as "Alpha" Chapter or "Beta Gamma" Chapter.

Exchange or Mixer - a social activity where members of one organization meet with and visit another organization.

Fraternity - a Greek-letter sisterhood or brotherhood.

Greek(s) - member(s) of a Greek-letter organization (fraternity or sorority).

Initiation - the traditional ritual ceremony that brings a pledge/new member into full membership.

Legacy - a potential member who is a daughter/son, sister/brother, or granddaughter/grandson of a member of a Greek organization.

North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) - the male counterpart of the National Panhellenic Conference.

National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) - an organization of 26 women's Greek-letter organizations.

New Member - an individual who has accepted the bid of a fraternity or sorority and is in their first phase of membership; previously referred to as a pledge.

Open Recruitment - also called "Continuous Open Bidding (COB)" or "Informal Recruitment." It is any time after the Formal Recruitment period has ended when bids may be extended at any time.

Philanthropy - every Greek organization has a national or international philanthropy or community service organization that they support, such as Literacy, Cancer Research, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Most chapters also do charity work on a local level, helping out community organizations and participating in local events such as food banks, women's shelters, and children's hospitals. Community service is one of the cornerstones of the Greek community.

Potential Member - a person interested in becoming a member of a Greek-letter organization and participating in the Recruitment process.

Recruitment - the activity by which chapters seek new members; Formal Recruitment is a designated period when sororities rush together and hold specific schedules events to recruit new members. Informal Recruitment is the open rush period when there are no system-wide scheduled events. Formerly known as "Rush"

Ritual - the traditional ceremonies of an organization, usually secret.

Recruitment Counsellor or Rho-Chi - an alumnae or collegiate member of a fraternity who temporarily disaffiliates herself from her organization to serve as a neutral counsellor to a group of potential members during Formal Recruitment.

Strict Silence - the period of time at the close of Formal Recruitment when there is no communication between potential members and sorority members until the acceptance of invitations to membership.

Sister - a term used by sorority/women's fraternity members when referring to fellow members.

Sorority - an alternate term used to describe Greek-letter organizations for women.

Greek Alphabet

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