Active: A fully initiated member of a fraternity/sorority.

Alumni/Alumnae: Initiated members who have graduated.

Associate Member: A member of a Greek-lettered organization who has not yet been initiated. See also "New Member"

Badge: A “pin” worn by fully-initiated members of each fraternity or sorority that carries its official insignia.

BGLO: Black Greek Letter Organization

Bid: An invitation to join a sorority or fraternity. 

Bid Day: The final day of Panhellenic and Interfraternity recruitment when the Potential New Member receives an invitation to join a chapter.

Big: Nickname for big sister or brother, which is a mentor assigned to a new member. Many organizations have special names for these pairings.

Chant: A call used by members of the National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural Greek Councils to acknowledge or gain the attention of others. Some organizations have more than one chant

Crossing: A term used by National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural Greek Councils' organizations to indicate that a new member has been fully initiated into an organization.

Crossing Date/Year: A term for initiating into a National Pan-Hellenic or Multicultural Greek Councils' organization. Usually used to refer to when a member joined their organization – the term and year they joined.

Founder‘s Day: An event celebrated by fraternities and sororities to highlight the founding of their organization and celebrate its history. It’s not necessarily held on the day the organization was founded.

Governing Council: Also known as an umbrella council, generally supports and acts as a voice for organizations within it, including being the official sponsored student organization liaison between the University and the members of the member organizations. 

Hand Signs: Signs that only a member of an organization can “throw up.” Most signs have a deep meaning to an organization or ritualistic symbol.

Initiate: A member who has gained full membership in that specific organization.

Initiation: A ritual or ceremony in which a new member begins full membership in that organization.

Intake: Term for the process by which the National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural Greek  Councils' members are selected to become new members of an organization. This is generally much more secretive than recruitment for Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council members, but generally includes an application and an interview process, followed by an educational program, then initiation (generally known as “crossing”).

Interest: A way to refer to someone who is interested in joining a Greek organization.

Legacy: Someone whose mother, father, sister, or brother are members of a particular organization. Some consider an aunt an uncle a legacy also.

Line: Individuals going through the membership intake process.

Line name/number: The name given to a prospective/new member that represents them as a person, usually a noun, adjective or acronym. National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural Greek Council organizations also assign a line number to their new members (such as ace, deuce, tre, etc.)

Little: Short for “Little brother/sister” – a new member who is being mentored by an older member of their organization

Neophyte/Neo: A new initiated member of a National Pan-Hellenic or Multicultural Greek Councils' organization.

New Member: A member of a Greek-lettered organization who has not yet been initiated. See also "Associate Member"

New Member Presentation: Also referred as a probate, is a presentation that celebrates and welcome new members in the National Pan-Hellenic or Multicultural Greek Council communities.

Philanthropy: A charitable project to raise money and/or awareness for a particular cause sponsored by each chapter on campus.

Pin: The active member pin or badge, a distinctive insignia worn on the chest designating an active member of a particular fraternity. The new member pin, an insignia used to designate a new member of a particular fraternity or sorority.

Recruitment: A social experience organized by the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils in which mutual selection allows each potential member to determine chapter membership.

Stroll: A dance, normally done in a line of active members that displays pride and knowledge of their organization and its values. Organizations usually have national strolls and local strolls that incorporate a variety of different moves and hand signs that are unique to that organization.

Stepping: Stepping is a tradition where members synchronize their moves so that they are in a sense performing their own dance moves, without music. In stepping the members will clap, stomp with their feet, jump, chant and create their own beat by doing so. 

Yard: A term used by National Pan-Hellenic and Multicultural Greek Councils' organizations to indicate the campus. Used in phrases such as "which groups are on the yard", meaning which groups are presently active at Iowa.