Parent Resources
Common Greek Terminology:
Active
A fully initiated collegiate member of a sorority or fraternity.
Advisors
An alumnus/ae, faculty or staff member acting in an advisory capacity for a fraternity or sorority.
Alumnus/ae
An individual who graduated from college as a member of a fraternity or sorority.
Bid
A formal invitation to join a Panhellenic or Interfraternity Council organization.
Chapter
A local group of a national organization. A fraternity or sorority on a college campus.
Formal Recruitment
A weekend long recruitment event where women get to meet all sororities and make decisions on which they want to join.
Fraternity
A Greek organization for men. Many of the older women's organizations are officially known as fraternities rather than sororities. Also refers to co-ed Greek organizations.
Greek
A sorority or fraternity member.
Interfraternity Council (IFC)
Governing organization for all social fraternities on campus.
Initiation
Ceremony during which new members organizations become active, life-long members of their organization.
Intake
Process of selecting, educating and initiating new members into an organization.
Legacy
A person whose parent, grandparent, or sibling was an active member of a sorority or fraternity.
Line
Individuals going through the membership intake process together.
Panhellenic Council
Governing organization for all social sororities on campus.
Neophyte (Neo)
New member of an organization.
New Member
A person who has accepted a bid to a PHC or IFC organization but has not been initiated yet.
NIC - North-American Interfraternity Conference
National umbrella organization for Interfraternity Council.
NPC - National Panhellenic Conference
National umbrella organization for Panhellenic Council.
Philanthropy
A charitable service project or fundraiser sponsored by fraternities and sororities.
Potential New Member
A student who is participating in formal PHC or IFC recruitment.
Prophyte
Initiated member of an organization.
Recruitment
Membership selection process where interested students can learn more about Greek organizations and be asked to join.
Ritual
Private ceremony of a Greek organization. The formal document that contains the secret principles and ideals upon which the organization was founded. Only initiated members are privy to the ritual; learning the ritual is usually a part of the initiation ceremony.
Sister
An active member of a sorority.
Social Fraternity/Sorority
A campus organization that does community service, philanthropy, social events, and leadership development. A fraternity or sorority that is not considered an “academic” fraternity is considered a social fraternity.
Soror
A term used by sorority members when referring to one another.
Sorority
A Greek letter organization for women. Many sororities are officially fraternities; however, most refer to themselves as sororities.
NIC – A Parent’s Guide to Fraternities
NPC Parent’s Guide to Sororities
Sororities
Alpha Omicron Pi Parent’s Page
Delta Delta Delta Parent’s Page
Fraternities
Kappa Alpha Order Parent’s Page
Sigma Phi Epsilon Parent’s Page
