Terms and Definitions

Recuitment Form Terms and Definitions Process Rules

• Active / Initiated Member – Any member who has gone through the initiation ceremony and is currently enrolled in college.
• Alumnus / Alumna – An initiated member who has graduated from college.
• Bid – A formal invitation of membership to join a national organization.
• Brother / Sister – A term used by active members in a chapter when referring to one another.
• Chapter – The collegiate group of a national fraternity or sorority.
• Formal Recruitment – A period of structured membership selection at Texas State. Activities designated for recruiting new members into a chapter. It is a mutual selection between potential new members and chapters.
• Greek – Any member of a Greek-letter organization (sorority or fraternity).
• Interfraternity Council – (IFC), a representative governing body of all fraternities.
• Initiation – A formal ceremony that brings about the transition from new member to initiated member.
• Legacy – A person whose parent, sibling, or grandparent is an alumnus/alumna or active member of a sorority or fraternity.
• National – A term referring to the inter/national headquarters/organization of a given fraternity or sorority.
• New Member – A person who has accepted an invitation of membership to a chapter and has not yet been initiated.
• Panhellenic Council – (PHC), the representative governing body of all sororities of the National Panhellenic Conference.
• National Pan-Hellenic Council – (NPHC), the representative governing body of traditionally and historically African-American inter/national fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc.
• Pin / Badge – The active pin is worn on the chest designating an initiated member of certain chapters. A pledge / new member pin is similar and is used to designate a new member of a chapter.
• Pledgeship – A period of education and introduction into the fraternity or sorority.
• Potential New Member – An undergraduate man or woman who participates in the recruitment process.
• Ritual – The traditional ceremonies of a chapter that are usually known only by initiated members.

Greek Alphabet
α ALPHA (al-fah)
β BETA (bay-tah)
Γ GAMMA (gam-ah)
Δ DELTA (del-tah)
ε EPSILON (ep-si-lon)
Ζ ZETA (zay-tah)
η ETA (ay-tah)
Θ THETA (thay-tah)
ι IOTA (eye-o-tah)
κ KAPPA (kap-pah)
λ LAMBDA (lam-dah)
μ MU (mew)
Ν NU (new)
Ξ XI (zie)
Ο OMICRON (om-i-cron)
Π PI (pie)
Ρ RHO (roe)
ς SIGMA (sig-mah)
Τ TAU (taw)
Υ UPSILON (oop-si-lon)
Φ PHI (fie)
Χ CHI (kie)
ψ PSI (sie)
Ω OMEGA (o-may-gah)