Arkansas Tech University

Greek Terminology

Confused by all the Greek letters fraternities and sororities use?
Take a look at the on-line Greek alphabet!
Learn their names and how to pronounce them correctly.

Alumnus (singular) or Alumni (plural) - an initiated male member who is no longer an undergraduate.

Alumna (singular) or Alumnae (plural) - an initiated female member who is no longer an undergraduate.

Bid - An invitation to join a fraternity of sorority.

Brother - The term used by active members in a fraternity when referring to each other.

Chapter - The local collegiate membership of a national fraternity or sorority.

Continuous Open Bidding - A Panhellenic term, defined as the process whereby a chapter, not filling a "quota" or reaching "total" during formal recruitment, may continue to pledge new members until spaces are filled.

Fraternity - The name that applies to all Greek letter organizations characterized by a ritual, a pin and a strong tie of friendship. Women's fraternities my also be called sororities

Formal Recruitment - A period of structured membership selection coordinated by Panhellenic and IFC for member groups.

Go Over/Cross Over- Initiation into a historically African-American fraternity or sorority.

Greek - A member of a fraternity or sorority.

Hazing - A negative form of conduct that focuses on mistreating, demeaning, or otherwise degrading the personal worth of another individual. Hazing is prohibited by the Arkansas Tech University, by all national fraternities, and is illegal in the State of Arkansas.

IFC (Interfraternity Council) - The representative governing body of fraternities affiliated with the North American Interfraternity Conference.

Initiated Member - Any member who has gone through the initiation ceremony to become a life-long member of a fraternity or sorority.

Intake - A term used to describe the membership selection process for NPHC chapters.

Legacy - A person whose parent, sibling or grandparent is an initiated member of a sorority or fraternity.

National - A term referring to the central organization of a given fraternity or sorority.

Associate Member - a student who has accepted an invitation for membership but has not yet been initiated.

NIC (North American Interfraternity Conference) - A conference body of 64 nationally recognized men's social fraternities. The local governing council of fraternities is referred to as IFC (Interfraternity Council).

NPC (National Panhellenic Conference) - A conference body of 26 nationally recognized women's social fraternities. The local governing council of sororities is referred to as Panhellenic Council.

NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Conference) - A conference body of 5 nationally recognized fraternities and 4 nationally recognized women's sororities which are historically African-American. The local governing council of fraternities and sororities is also called NPHC or Pan-Hellenic.

Open Recruitment - The membership selection process that occurs throughout the academic year, any time that formal recruitment is not scheduled. Also known as COB or COR among Panhellenic chapters.

Panhellenic - A Greek word meaning "All Greek." It is also the common reference for the

Philanthropy - Charitable projects or donations sponsored by a fraternity or sorority

Quota- A term used by Panhellenic chapters which specifies a number of new members each sorority can accept during formal recruitment.

Recommendation - A letter written by an alumna/us to recommend a student for membership. NPHC recommendations may also be written by university officials.

Formal Recruitment - the activity by which an IFC fraternity or Panhellenic sorority seeks and selects new members.

Ritual - The ceremony by which an organization brings those who have met initiation requirements into full membership. The ritual expresses the founding principles upon which each organization was established and is to be used to determine the value of each activity the organization chooses to become involved in.

Sister - The term used by active members in a sorority when referring to each other.

Soror - The Greek term for "sister".

Total- the maximum number of members allowed for each Panhellenic chapter on a particular campus. Tech Panhellenic total is currently 65.