| Active: A member of a fraternity or sorority who has been initiated and is currently a college student. |
| Alumna/Graduate Member/Alumnae: An initiated sorority member who has graduated from college. Alumnae is plural and describes a group of women. |
| Alumnus/Graduate Member/Alumni: An initiated fraternity member who has graduated from college. Alumni is plural and describes a group of men or a group of men and women. |
| Aspirant: A college student who is participating in Intake and has not yet accepted an invitation to join. |
| Badge: A piece of jewelry that designates affiliation to a fraternity or sorority. |
| Big Brother or Sister: An older initiated member of a fraternity or sorority who serves as a mentor to a younger member providing guidance and advice. |
| Brother: A term used within men’s fraternities when referring to other members. |
| Call/Chant: A vocal sound (sometimes high-pitched) used by members of cultural based fraternities or sororities to acknowledge one another. |
| Chapter: A local organization of the larger national or international organization, designated by Greek letters. |
| Colony: Status of a new chapter prior to installation as an official chapter. |
| Continuous Open Bidding/Recruitment (COB/R): The opportunity for a chapter to invite women to membership if it did not fill its quota in formal recruitment or has not reached total. Chapters may continue bidding/recruiting any time during the school year except during formal recruitment. |
| Crossed: The actual date of initiation into a cultural fraternity or sorority. The term is used to represent the symbolic “crossing of the burning sands.” |
| Depledge: To terminate one’s fraternity or sorority membership before initiation. |
| Disaffiliated: A member who has temporarily removed his or her association from his or her chapter. |
| FIPG (Fraternal Information & Programming Group): The one-stop resource for risk management education, beginning first with our member organizations, but eventually extending to undergraduates and college and university professionals. Ball State has 15 members – Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Tau Omega, Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Zeta, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Nu and Theta Chi. |
| Formal Recruitment: A structured period set aside where potential new members and chapters participate in a mutual selection process to match potential new members with IFC and PHC chapters. |
| Frater(s): A term used by NPHC fraternity members when referring to one another. The term, Frat, is sometimes used in NPHC in reference to any fraternity man. |
| Fraternity: The name that applies to most Greek letter organizations characterized by a ritual, badge, and strong ties to friendship and moral principles. Informally, women's fraternities are called sororities. |
| Graduate Chapter: A local chapter of a national NPHC fraternity or sorority whose members have received their undergraduate degree. These chapters usually oversee and advise the local undergraduate chapter of their organization. |
| Greek: Any member of a Greek letter social organization (fraternity or sorority). |
| Greek Week: A week of activities involving all Ball State University fraternities and sororities, which promotes Greek unity and includes a Greek and campus wide community service project. |
| Hand Sign: Symbol or gesture made with the hand(s) that signify membership in a particular organization. Hand signs are special to members of that organization and should not be replicated by non-members. |
| Hazing: Mental or physical abuse or harassment of a fraternity or sorority member. Hazing is prohibited by university policy, state law, and the policies of every national fraternity and sorority. |
| House: The residence of a fraternity or sorority. |
| House Corporation: A legal entity holding title to, or leasing, any real property (land and buildings) for a chapter's living/meeting purposes. This housing corporation has basic responsibilities relative to property ownership and maintenance. |
| Informal/Open Recruitment: The unstructured recruitment process by which fraternities and sororities take members throughout the academic year. |
| Informational/Interest Meeting: Students interested in joining NPHC organizations may attend one of these to learn more about the NPHC intake process. |
| Initiation: The formal ritual ceremony that brings new members into full membership of the sorority or fraternity. Through initiation, members learn and pledge themselves to the ideals of the sorority and fraternity. |
| Initiated Member: Any member who has completed the new member process and has participated in a fraternity or sorority's initiation ceremony. |
| Interfraternity Council (IFC): The educational programming, communication channel, and coordinating governing body for fraternities at Ball State. |
| International/National Headquarters: The central office of a particular fraternity or sorority. This office oversees the local chapters across the country. |
| Intramural: Athletic programs administered by the university in which members from different fraternity and sorority chapters form teams and participate in sporting matches. |
| Invitation: A formal invitation to join a particular fraternity or sorority. Commonly known as a bid. |
| Lavaliere: A pendant with a fraternity or sorority's Greek letters on it. |
| Legacy: The brother/sister, son/daughter or grandson/granddaughter of a fraternity or sorority member. |
| Line: The members of a NPHC fraternity or sorority new member class. |
| Line Sister/Line Brother: Someone who went through the membership intake process with you. |
| Membership Intake: The term NPHC groups use when they bring new members into their organizations. During membership intake, individuals learn and absorb information related to a NPHC fraternity or sorority of interest. Each NPHC group determines when they will conduct intake, and thus no two NPHC groups will conduct intake together. |
| Membership Recruitment: The process of meeting potential members and recruiting them to join a fraternity or sorority. |
| Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values: A leadership organization that serves Greek Governing Councils from schools within a 17-state region of the central United States. Greek council executive officers visit the regional conference in St. Louis each year to compete for awards, attend education sessions and learn about other Greek communities. |
| Mixer: A theme party with a fraternity or sorority. |
| National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC): The educational programming, communication channel and coordinating governing body for African-American and Latino/Latina fraternities and sororities at Ball State. |
| Neophyte (Neo): Newly initiated member of an NPHC organization. |
| New Member/Associate: A member of a IFC fraternity or PHC sorority who has accepted a fraternity or sorority bid but has not been initiated. |
| New Member Pin: A pin that designates a new member of a fraternity or sorority. |
| New Member Program/Period: A period of learning about an IFC fraternity and Panhellenic sorority life prior to initiation. This period varies for all groups. |
| NALFO (National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations): is an umbrella council for 23 Latino Greek Letter Organizations. They serve to promote and foster positive interfraternal relations, communication and development of all Latino Fraternal organizations through mutual respect, leadership, honesty, professionalism and education. Ball State has two member organizations – Gamma Phi Omega and Phi Iota Alpha. |
| NIC (North American Interfraternity Conference): Governing body for 72 international/national men’s fraternities and alumni associations. The NIC serves to enrich the fraternity experience through advancement and growth of the fraternity community. |
| NPC (National Panhellenic Conference): An umbrella organization for 26 international/national women’s fraternities and sororities. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-lettered society of women and alumnae. |
| NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council): A national organization composed of four sororities and five fraternities whose membership is historically African-American. They serve to promote interaction through forums, meetings, and other mediums for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions. |
| “No Frills Recruitment”: An effort to eliminate high cost and time demands for decorating and entertainment during sorority formal recruitment. Sorority formal recruitment focuses on quality communication with potential new members. |
| Panhellenic Council (PHC): the governing body for the National Panhellenic Conference sororities at Ball State. |
| Philanthropy: An activity or event that raises awareness and collects money and/or donated goods for a charitable organization or cause. Greeks host philanthropic events to raise money or collect items for their philanthropy. |
| Pi Chi (Panhellenic Counselor): A PHC sorority member who has disaffiliated from her sorority during recruitment to assist potential new members through the formal recruitment process. |
| Potential New Member: An undergraduate woman or man who is participating in IFC or Panhellenic recruitment. |
| Preference: During the last part of sorority recruitment, a potential new member will visit up to three chapters and indicate her preference. |
| Prophyte: An NPHC term for someone who has been a member of the organization for a year or more, or someone who has initiated members. |
| Recommendation (Rec): A personal letter or reference provided by an alumna of a national sorority to the local chapter of her sorority. Letters of recommendation do not guarantee a bid from any sorority. |
| Recruitment Event: An activity organized by a sorority or fraternity to meet potential members and inform them about the organization. |
| Ritual: The traditional ceremonies of a chapter, which are usually secret. |
| Sands: Persons who were initiated together at the same time (i.e. fall 2007); individuals are not necessarily from the same chapter. Primarily used by NPHC organizations. |
| Sister: A term used within sororities when referring to other members. |
| Social: A get-together with another group for a party, dinner or fun occasion. |
| Soror(s): A term used by NPHC sorority members when referring to one another. |
| Sorority: The name that applies to all Greek letter women’s organizations characterized by a ritual, badge, and strong ties to friendship and moral principles. Term came from the Latin term soror which means sister. Many Greek letter women’s organizations are fraternities but are informally called sororities. |
| Step Show: NPHC functions are usually characterized by synchronized hand and foot movements, along with singing, dancing, chanting, and acting. The purpose of the functions are to have a style of dance that uses rhythmic stomping to demonstrate unity, talent, and organizational pride. Step shows are a lively and popular part of the African-American fraternity and sorority tradition. |
| Strict Silence: The term used to not discuss recruitment with non-sorority members outside of the recruitment events. |
| Stroll: Coordinated movements done in a line by NPHC organizations to show unity. It is often demonstrated at social gatherings or during step shows. |
| Undergraduate Chapter: The local chapter of a national fraternity or sorority whose members consist of undergraduate students at Ball State. |
| Week of Events: Period of times when a NPHC organization sponsors a variety of events for the campus. May include educational programs, discussions or debates, variety shows, parties, and step shows. Sometimes they are referred to as Founders’ Week. |