Greek Facts

Greek Definitions

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.

BLACKBALL - During the process of determining which rushees shall receive bids, one brother or sister may veto the bid. This veto action is called a "blackball."

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 ADVISOR - 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.

DRY RUSH - On many campuses, alcohol is forbidden from all events associated with introducing the fraternity/sorority to rushees.

FORMAL RUSH - the 'official' rush period of the year with specific scheduled events. On many campuses, the most concentrated period with Formal Rush for entertaining and selecting pledges is known as "Rush Week".

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

GREEKS - Students affiliated with Greek-letter fraternities and sororities.

HAZING - any willful act or practice by a member or associate member, directed against a member or associate member, which, with or without intent, is likely to: cause bodily harm or danger, offensive punishment, or disturbing pain, compromise the person's dignity; cause embarrassment or shame in public; cause the person to be the object of malicious amusement or ridicule; cause psychological harm or substantial emotional strain; and impair academic efforts. In addition, hazing is any requirement by a member or pledge which compels a member or associate member to participate in any activity which is illegal, is contrary to a member's or associate member's moral or religious beliefs, or is contrary to the rules and regulations of the fraternity, institution of learning, and civil authorities.

HOUSE - a chapter's physical facility which serves as its home.

INACTIVE MEMBER - a brother or sister who has graduated. The individual is still a member of the organization, but is denoted as "inactive" to designate that they have graduated and no longer participate in the day to day activities of the fraternity or sorority.

INFORMAL RUSH - a continuous, open rush period with no specific, scheduled, system-wide activities of rushing and pledging. Bids may be extended and accepted at any time.

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

INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL (IFC) - The council made up of all fraternities at a school.

LOCAL FRATERNITY - "Local" - a Greek-letter group which exists on a campus but which has no affiliation with a national Greek organization.

PANHELLENIC - The council of all sororities at a school..

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.

RUSH - A series of events offering members and potential members the opportunity to get to know each other.

RUSHEE - a non-member who is eligible to participate in the rush program, visiting Greek organizations with an interest in possibly affiliating with one organization.

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.