Glossary of Greek terms
Todd Shelton | 6/19/2003 Active - a person who has been initiated into a lifelong membership in a Greek organization. Traditionally, it has designated a member who is currently an undergraduate.
Active Chapter - an individual, chartered campus-based subordinate unit of a national Greek organization.
Alumna - a sorority member who is a non-student. Plural: Alumnae.
Alumnus - a fraternity member who is a non-student. Plural: Alumni (which is also used to describe a mixed group).
Alumni Chapter - an organization of Greek alumni from an individual fraternity or sorority; usually related or representing a geographical area or city.
Alumni Advisory Committee - a committee or group of alumni sharing chapter advising responsibilities, usually with each alumnus assigned to a specific area of chapter operations (such as finances).
Associate Member - a person who has accepted the bid of a Greek organization, received the associate member pin, and is engaged in preparing for initiation, but who has not yet been initiated into full membership.
Badge - the symbol worn by the initiated member of a Greek organization.
Bid - an invitation to a rushee to join a Greek organization.
Brother - an initiated member of a fraternity. It is used as a term of address when an initiated member refers to another member.
Chapter/Alumnus Advisor - an alumnus who establishes and maintains a close advisory relationship with a chapter and serves as a teacher, counselor and friend. Relating to Kappa Alpha these are the faculty advisor and the alumnus advisor.
Colony or provisional chapter - a student organization in the final stage prior to being installed as a chartered chapter of a Greek organization.
Depledge - the termination of an associate member’s relationship with a Greek organization.
Dry Rush - the practice of not serving alcoholic beverages at recruitment functions.
Exchange (Mixer) - an activity where the members of one Greek organization visit the chapter of another Greek organization for a social event.
Faculty Advisor - a member of the faculty or administration who establishes and maintains a close advisory relationship with a chapter and its scholarship program. The Faculty Advisor is not necessarily an initiate of the particular Greek organization.
Faculty Initiate - a member of the faculty or governing board of a college or university who is initiated into full membership, as is possible by some fraternities, including Kappa Alpha.
Formal Rush - the major rush period of the year with specific scheduled events. The most concentrated period within formal rush for entertaining and selecting associate members is sometimes known as “Rush Week.”
Fraternity - an individual men’s Greek organization, especially a general college fraternity (as distinguished from an honor, professional, or recognition fraternity or society) and the term applied to all Greek organizations. Some sororities are identified as a fraternity in their official name; others describe themselves as being a “women’s fraternity.”
Hazing - any willful act of 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 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. Hazing in any and all forms is prohibited by Kappa Alpha.
House - a chapter’s physical facility which serves as its home.
House Corporation - a legal entity holding title to any real property (land and buildings) for a chapter’s living/meeting purposes. This alumni body has basic responsibilities relative to property ownership, maintenance and management.
Housemother - a woman, residing in a chapter house, who is a friend, adviser, hostess, and chaperon in every way a “house” mother.
Informal Rush - a year-round period of continuous, open rush with no specific, scheduled, system-wide activities of rushing and pledging. Bids may be extended and accepted at any time. This is also known as “Open Rush.”
In-House Adviser - a housemother, housefather, house director, resident scholar, or any other person serving a chapter as its live-in adviser.
Initiation - a ritualistic ceremony in which an associated member becomes an initiated lifelong member of a Greek organization. Please note that a member is initiated, never “activated” nor “Brotherized.”
Interest Group - an individual campus membership unit in the first stage of the process leading to installation as a chapter of a Greek organization.
Legacy - an undergraduate relative of a Greek organization member who is extended full consideration during the rush and pledging process.
Local - a Greek-letter group which exists on a campus but which has no affiliation with a national Greek organization.
Open House - a time free of specific, scheduled activities when a rushee can visit any Greek organization chapter. An “Open House” is also an individual chapter’s reception or similar event to honor a person, celebrate a milestone, etc.
Open Party - an open-to-the-public social function. Such parties are condemned by Kappa Alpha and most other fraternities and sororities as being the single greatest source of damage to chapter houses and disruptive behavior which reflects unfavorably upon the sponsoring group, in particular, and all fraternities, in general.
Open Rush - see Informal Rush.
Pinning - the practice of a fraternity member giving his member’s badge to a woman.
Preferential Bidding - a system used (primarily by sororities) to conclude rush with the organizations and rushees indicating their choices, following which there is a procedure for an individual’s ultimate association with one organization.
Recruitment - a program (and period of time) of membership recruitment by Greek organizations.
Risk Management - involves analyzing all exposures to the possibility of loss and determining how to handle these exposures: reduce or transfer the risk.
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 organization. This is the term commonly used to distinguish between men’s (fraternities) and women’s (sororities) organizations. As noted previously, some sororities are identified as a fraternity in their official name. |
