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/cap-ah	Λ Lambda/lamb-dah	Μ Mu/mew
Ν Nu/new	Ξ Xi/zzeye	Ο Omicron/om-ah-cron	Π Pi/pie
Ρ Rho/row	Σ Sigma/sig-ma	Τ Tau/tawh	Υ Upsilon/oop-si-lon
Φ Phi/figh	Χ Chi/kigh	Ψ Psi/sigh	Ω Omega/o-may-gah

Fraternity & Sorority Life Terminology

Term	Definition
Active	A fully initiated member currently enrolled in college. Can also be called a member.
Alumni/Alumnae	A graduated member of a fraternity or sorority. Alumni often support chapter activities through donations, assistance with advising, employment of undergraduates, etc.
New Member	A person who has accepted a bid to become a member of a specific fraternity or sorority, has received the new member pin, and is preparing for initiation, but has not yet been initiated into full membership.
Badge	The pin of an initiated member.
Bid	A formal invitation to become a member of a fraternity or sorority.
Big Brother/Big Sister	An older member who serves as an advisor and mentor to a new member, guiding them through their new member program and initiation.
Brother	An initiated member of a fraternity. It is used as a term of address when an initiated member refers to another member.
Chapter	The local group of an inter/national fraternity or sorority.
Chapter Advisor	An alumnus/alumna who establishes and maintains a close advisory relationship with a chapter and serves as a teacher, counselor, and friend.
Community Service	The giving of a member's time to volunteer for another organization in the community.
Fraternity	A values-based organization for male-identifying students.  Did you know? The term sorority was not coined until 1882, so you will see some sororities use fraternity in the formal name like 'fraternity for women' or 'women's fraternity'.
Hazing	Any conduct which subjects another person, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or psychologically, to anything which may endanger, abuse, degrade, embarass, harass, or intimidate the person as a condition of membership with a group or organization, regardless of the person's consent or lack of consent. Illinois Wesleyan University has a no hazing policy in the Student Code of Conduct and takes strict action against any organizations that participate in hazing.
House	The residence of a fraternity or sorority's chapter members; an informal reference to an individual's fraternity or sorority affiliation.
House Corporation	A legal entity holding to, or leasing, any real property (land and buildings) for a chapter's living/meeting purposes. This body has basic responsibilities related to property ownership and maintenance. Did you know? All fraternity chapter facilities and one sorority chapter facility are owned and operated by the University.
Inactive Member	A member who has no material participation in undergraduate chapter activities, such as social activities, living in the chapter house, or voting at undergraduate meetings.
Initiation	A formal ceremony in which an individual becomes a full member of a fraternity or sorority.
Inter(national) Headquarters	The central organization of a particular fraternity/sorority; commonly abbreviated as IHQ.
Legacy	A potential new member who has a family member who is also a member (active or alumni) of a fraternity/sorority.
NALFO	National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, Inc.; an umbrella organization representing 17 Latino/a fraternities and sororities.
NPC	National Panhellenic Conference; an umbrella organization composed of 26 member sororities, each of which is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of women, undergraduate and alumnae.
NPHC	National Pan-Hellenic Council; an umbrella organization representing nine historically African-American fraternities and sororities; commonly referred to as the Divine Nine.
NIC	North American Interfraternity Conference; a trade association representing 56 inter(national) men’s fraternities.
Panhellenic Council	The local governing body of all NPC sororities on campus; commonly referred to as Panhellenic.
Interfraternity Council	The local governing body of all NIC fraternities on campus; commonly referred to as IFC.
New Member Program	A time before initiation during which new members learn about their fraternity/sorority, participate in team-building activities, and build relationships with fellow new members.
Philanthropy	The not-for-profit organization or charity a chapter supports through donations raised through events done by fraternities and sororities. Each organization has their own philanthropic partner to which they donate time, money, and energy.
Potential New Member	A student interested in joining a fraternity or sorority; commonly refered to as a PNM.
Recruitment Chair	The person from each fraternity or sorority who is responsible for their chapter's recruitment process. This term is specific for IFC and Panhellenic chapters.
Recruitment	A program (and period of time) of membership recruitment by fraternities and sororities. Recruitment is primarily a process for exchanging information. Fraternity and sorority members give information about their respective organizations to potential new members. PNMs provide information about themselves and inquire about the missions, philosophies, financial obligations, alumni opportunities, and membership commitment of the organization they are interested in joining. It is an active process on both sides to ensure potential new members are properly matched with a chapter.
Recruitment Counselor	A sorority member who has disaffiliated from her chapter during the fall recruitment period. She is trained to help potential new members through recruitment and answer any questions they may have about sorority membership or the recruitment process.
Ritual	The traditional beliefs and oaths of a sorority or fraternity usually used in reference to initiation and other ceremonies, as well as chapter meetings. These traditions do not include any forms of hazing because hazing weakens the bonds of brotherhood/sisterhood, and undermines the common experience of the fraternity or sorority. Ritual does, however, ensure that all members share a common experience across multiple campuses and generations.
Sister	An initiated member of a sorority/women's fraternity. It is used as a form of address when one initiated member is referring to another member.
Sorority	A values-based organization for female-identifying students.  Did you know? The term sorority was not coined until 1882, so you will see some sororities use fraternity in the formal name like 'fraternity for women' or 'women's fraternity'.An individual woman's Greek organization. This is the term commonly used to distinguish between men's (fraternity) and women's (sorority) organizations. As noted previously, some sororities are identified as a fraternity in their official name.