Glossary of Terms
- Alumnae/Alumni
- Initiated members who have graduated or who are no longer in
college. Some organizations confer this status after an initiate
has been a member for four or more years. Alumna/alumnae refers to
women and alumnus/alumni refers to men.
- Bid
- A formal invitation to pledge or associate with a fraternity or
a sorority.
- Bid Matching
- Procedure utilized during women's formal recruitment. At the
conclusion, each participant ("potential new member") has the
opportunity to submit a prioritized choice of sororities she would
like to join. Each sorority also submits a prioritized list of
women to whom they are interested in extending a bid. A
computerized process is used to match the priorities of both. Every
potential new member may not receive her first choice as there is a
maximum on the number of bids allowed (see 'Quota').
- Brother
- Term used when referring to another member of the
fraternity.
- Chapter
- The local group of an (inter)national fraternal
organization.
- Chapter Total
- The allowable chapter size for Panhellenic sororities, as
determined by the Panhellenic Council.
- Corporation Board
- Local alumnae/alumni who oversee the management, operations,
upkeep, and contractual obligations of a chapter house.
- Formal Recruitment
- The period set aside for structured recruiting. At Butler, this
occurs in January, prior to the start of the second semester.
- Fraternity
- A Greek letter organization. This can refer to either a men's
or women's organization, and can refer to general/social
organizations, professional organizations, or honoraries.
Informally, the term refers to men's organizations.
- Initiation
- The formal ceremony during which a man or a woman begins a full
membership in a fraternity or sorority.
- Intake
- The membership recruitment and induction process for the
National Pan-Hellenic Council member organizations (historically
African-American fraternities and sororities).
- (Inter)National
- A term referring to the central organization of a given
sorority or fraternity.
- Interfraternity Council (IFC)
- The central governing body of fraternities.
- Legacy
- A rushee whose grandmother/grandfather, mother/father,
sister/brother, stepmother/stepfather or stepsister/stepbrother was
or is a member of a particular sorority or fraternity. A legacy can
be given special consideration, but is never guaranteed
membership.
- National Panhellenic Conference
- The central governing body of sororities, from the Greek
meaning all (Pan) Greeks (Hellenic); Panhellenic is organized on
every campus that has (inter)national sororities.
- Panhellenic Council (Panhel)
- The central governing body of sororities.
- Open house
- The first part of formal recruitment, during which the
potential member visits all chapters participating in the
process.
- Philanthropy
- A charitable project sponsored by many organizations.
- Pledge/associate/new member
- A member of a fraternity or a sorority who has not participated
in the initiation ceremony.
- Pledgeship/new member period
- A time during which new members learn about the fraternity or
sorority, its members and their activities.
- Potential new member
- A woman who participates in either formal or open
recruitment.
- Quota
- The total number of potential members each sorority chapter can
invite to join during formal recruitment.
- Recommendation
- A letter signed by an alumna/alumnus recommending a student for
membership in a Greek chapter.
- Recruitment
- A social experience in which mutual choice and selection occurs
to determine fraternity and sorority memberships.
- Serenade
- Traditionally, a singing performance by one Greek chapter to
another.
- Sister
- Term used when referring to another member of the
sorority.
The Greek Alphabet
Α - Alpha
Β - Beta
Γ - Gamma
Δ - Delta
Ε - Epsilon
Ζ - Zeta
Η - Eta
Θ - Theta
Ι - Iota
Κ - Kappa
Λ - Lambda
Μ - Mu
Ν - Nu
Ξ - Xi (zee)
Ο - Omicron
Π - Pi
Ρ - Rho
Σ - Sigma
Τ - Tau
Υ - Upsilon
Φ - Phi
Χ - Chi
Ψ - Psi
Ω - Omega