Professional fraternities and sororities

Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Professional fraternities, in the North American fraternity system, are organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is restricted to students in that particular field of professional education or study. This may be contrasted with service fraternities and sororities, whose primary purpose is community service, and social fraternities and sororities, whose primary purposes are generally aimed towards some other aspect, such as the development of character, friendship, leadership, or literary ability.

Professional fraternities are often confused with honor societies because of their focus on a specific discipline. Professional fraternities are significantly different from honor societies in that honor societies are associations designed to provide recognition of the past achievement of those who are invited to membership. Honor society membership, in most cases, requires no period of pledging, and new candidates may be immediately inducted into membership after meeting predetermined academic criteria and paying a one-time membership fee. Because of their purpose of recognition, most honor societies will have much higher academic achievement requirements for membership.

Professional fraternities, on the other hand, work to build brotherhood among members and cultivate the strengths of members to promote their profession and to provide assistance to one another in their mutual areas of professional study. Membership in a professional fraternity may be the result of a pledge process, much like a social fraternity, and members are expected to remain loyal and active in the organization for life. Within their professional field of study, their membership is exclusive; however, they may initiate members who belong to other types of fraternities.

History

The first professional fraternity was founded at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky in 1819: the Kappa Lambda Society of Aesculapius, established to bring together students of the medical profession. The fraternity lasted until about 1858.

Of the professional fraternities still in existence, the oldest is Phi Delta Phi founded at the University of Michigan in 1869; however, Phi Delta Phi changed its mission in 2012 to become an honor society for law school students.

Title IX applied to professional fraternities

In the United States fraternity system, professional fraternities are usually co-educational in accordance with Federal Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (commonly referred to as "Title IX"). This federal law discourages discrimination based on sex in any college or university receiving federal financial assistance. However, the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities are exempt from Title IX in section (A)(6)(a). The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) regulations adopted under Title IX also allow such an exception for "the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities." (34 C.F.R. Sec. 106.14(a)).

Before Title IX, many professional fraternities were all male and most professional sororities/women's fraternities were all female. Several of these professional fraternities and sororities even considered themselves both professional and social organizations because they often emphasized the social aspects of their activities. During the ensuing years since the enactment of Title IX, single-sex professional fraternities and sororities became coeducational to conform to Title IX. Several organizations simply opened their membership to both men and women. For example, Phi Chi (medicine) opened membership to women in 1973; Phi Beta (music and speech) opened membership to men in 1976; and Delta Omicron (music) opened membership to men in 1979. A few single-sex groups merged with other organizations, such as Phi Delta Delta, a women's professional law fraternity, merged with Phi Alpha Delta (law) in 1972.

Even though Title IX was enacted in 1972, there are still professional fraternities and sororities or their chapters that have not become coeducational and therefore, do not conform to Title IX. Generally, these groups still claim to be both professional and social organizations, for instance, Alpha Gamma Rho (men in agriculture), Alpha Omega Epsilon (women in engineering), and Sigma Phi Delta (men in engineering).

Several social fraternities and sororities have membership practices of selecting their members primarily from students enrolled in particular majors or areas of study, including Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Sigma Rho, and Triangle. Nevertheless, these groups are social, rather than professional, organizations. Although they select members from students in a particular field of study, like a professional fraternity, they are single-sex social organizations because their purposes focus only on the social development of their members. Examples of groups that have been officially granted exemption from Title IX by the DOE to remain single-sex include Sigma Alpha Iota in 1981 and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1983.

Umbrella organizations

Many professional fraternities, particularly those of the highest esteem and reputation, are members of the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA). This group resulted in 1978 from a merger of the Professional Interfraternity Conference (PIC) (for men's group) and the Professional Panhellenic Association (PPA) (for women's groups). In 2013, faced with an increase in campus policies that require student organizations to take all students, the PFA adopted a resolution against All Comers policies.

List of professional fraternities

Arts, literature, and media

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Delta Chi Xi		2010	Dance	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Delta Kappa Phi		1899	Textiles	Local, Lowell Textile School	Fraternity	Active	Template:Efn
Delta Kappa Alpha		1936	Cinema	National (US)	Gender Inclusive	Active
Gamma Epsilon Tau		1953	Graphic artists honor society	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Gamma Xi Phi		2010	African American artists and creators	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Omega Xi Alpha		1928	Journalism	Regional	Fraternity	Inactive
Phi Alpha Tau		1902	Communicative arts	Local, Emerson College	Fraternity	Active
Phi Beta		1912	Creative and performing arts	National (US)	Fraternity, gender inclusive	Active
Phi Psi		1903	Textile arts and manufacturing engineering	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Zeta Phi Eta		1893	Communication arts and sciences	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active

Agriculture

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Alpha Gamma Rho		1904	Agriculture	International (US)	Fraternity	Active
Alpha Gamma Sigma		1923	Agriculture	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Alpha Tau Alpha		1921	Agriculture and extension education	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Alpha Zeta		1897	Agriculture and natural resources	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Delta Theta Sigma		1906	Agriculture	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Sigma Alpha		1978	Agriculture	National (US)	Sorority	Active

Business and economics

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Alpha Kappa Psi		1904	Business	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Iota		1905	Business	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Delta Sigma Pi		1907	Business	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Epsilon Nu Tau		2008	Entrepreneurship	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Eta Phi Beta		1942	Business, African American	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Eta Rho Sigma		2020	Business	National (US)	Sorority/Women	Active
Kappa Eta Phi	ΚΗΦ	2011	Business, International Business	Local	Fraternity, coed	Active
Gamma Iota Sigma		1966	Insurance, risk management, actuarial sciences	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Iota Phi Lambda		1929	Business and professional African Americans	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Lambda Kappa Mu		1937	Business and professional African Americans	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Omicron Delta Epsilon		1963	Economics honor society	International	Society, coed	Active
Phi Chi Theta		1924	Business	National (US)	Women's fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Gamma Nu		1924	Business	National (US)	Sorority, coed	Active
Pi Sigma Epsilon		1952	Marketing and sales management	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Sigma Iota Epsilon		1927	Management honorary and professional society	International	Fraternity, coed	Active

Education

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Delta Kappa Gamma		1929	Education	International	Society, female	Active
Kappa Delta Epsilon		1933	Education	Nationa	Society, coed	Active
Kappa Delta Pi		1911	Education honor society	International	Society, coed	Active
Phi Delta Kappa		1906	Education	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Delta Kappa		1923	Education	International	Sorority, coed	Active
Phi Delta Pi	ΦΔΠ	1916	Physical education, health sciences, and recreation	National (US)	Sorority	Inactive
Phi Epsilon Kappa		1913	Physical education, performance, sports management	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active

Science, technology, engineering, and math

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Alpha Chi Sigma		1902	Chemistry	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Omega Epsilon		1983	Engineering	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Alpha Rho Chi		1914	Architecture	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Sigma Kappa		1989	Architecture, engineering, mathematics, and sciences	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Beta Psi Omega		2010	Biology	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Kappa Eta Kappa		1923	Electrical and computer engineering	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Kappa Theta Pi		2012	Information technology	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Pi Mu Epsilon		1914	Mathematics honor society	National (US)	Society, coed	Active
Phi Sigma Rho		1984	Science, technology, engineering, mathematics	National (US)	Sorority and non-binary	Active
Pi Delta Nu		1921–1950s	Chemistry	National (US)	Sorority	Inactive
Scarab		1909–19xx ?	Architecture, landscape architecture, architectural engineering	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive, Merged
Sigma Phi Delta		1924	Engineering	International	Fraternity	Active
Tau Omega		1927	Aeronautical engineering	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive, Merged
Theta Tau		1904	Engineering	National (US)	Fraternity, coed or male by chapter	Active
Triangle Fraternity		1907	Engineering, architecture, and sciences	National (US)	Fraternity	Active

Law

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Delta Theta Phi		1900	Law	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Gamma Eta Gamma		1901	Law	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Kappa Alpha Pi		2007	Law	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Lincoln's Inn Society		1907	Law	Local, Harvard Law School	Social club, coed	Inactive
Phi Alpha Delta		1902	Law	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Delta Delta		1911–1972	Law	National (US)	Sorority	Inactive	Template:Efn
Phi Delta Phi		1869	Law honor (formerly professional)	International	Fraternity, coed	Active	Template:Efn
Sigma Alpha Nu		2005	Pre-law	Local, University of California, Berkeley	Fraternity, coed	Active
Pi Lambda Sigma		2016	Pre-law, Government	Local, Cornell University	Society, coed	Active

Medicine

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Aleph Yodh He	איה	1908–1921	Medicine, Jewish	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive
Alpha Delta Theta		1944	Medical technology	Local, was national	Sorority	Active
Alpha Delta Upsilon			Chiropractic		Sorority	Active
Alpha Epsilon Iota		1890–1979	Medical	National (US)	Women's fraternity	Inactive
Alpha Gamma Kappa		1939	Podiatry	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Kappa Kappa		1888–20xx ?	Medicine	International, then local	Fraternity	Inactive
Alpha Omega		1907	Denistry, Jewish	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Psi		1907	Veterinary medicine	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Tau Delta		1921	Nursing	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Alpha Tau Sigma		1912–1964	Medical	Local, American School of Osteopathy	Fraternity	Inactive
Beta Chi		1883–1884	Medical	Local, Yale University	Fraternity	Inactive
Beta Sigma Kappa		1924	Optometry honor	International	Society, coed	Active
Chi Delta Mu		1913	Health professions, African American	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Chi Eta Phi		1932	Nursing, African American	International	Sorority, Female	Active
Chi Rho Sigma		1949* 1975	Chiropractic	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Chi Zeta Chi		1901–1929	Medicine	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive
Delta Epsilon Mu		1996	Pre-health, health-related fields	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Delta Omicron Alpha		1907–1917	Medicine	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive
Delta Sigma Chi		1913	Chiropractic	International	Fraternity	Active
Delta Sigma Delta		1882	Dentistry	International	Fraternity	Active
Epsilon Psi Epsilon		1911	Optometry	Local, Ohio State University	Fraternity	Active
Hygeia Medical Sorority		2009	Medicine	Local, Universidad Mayor de San Simón	Sorority	Active
Kappa Beta Phi (medical)		1924	Medicine	Local, Jefferson Medical College	Fraternity	active
Kappa Gamma Delta		1994	Pre-medical	Regional, California	Sorority	Active
Kappa Tau Epsilon			Podiatry	Local, Kent State	Fraternity, coed	Active
Mu Epsilon Delta		1965	Health	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Nu Sigma Nu		1882	Medicine	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Omega Delta		1919	Optometry	National	Fraternity	Active
Omega Tau Sigma		1906	Veterinary medicine	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Omega Upsilon Phi		1894–1934	Medicine	International	Fraternity	Inactive, Merged	Template:Efn
Phi Alpha Gamma		1894–1948	Osteopathic medicine	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive, Merged	Template:Efn
Phi Alpha Sigma		1888	Medicine	National	Fraternity	Active
Phi Beta Pi		1891	Medicine	Local, formerly National	Fraternity	Active
Phi Chi		1889	Medicine	International	Fraternity	Active
Phi Delta		1901–1918	Medicine	International	Fraternity	Inactive
Phi Delta Epsilon		1904	Medicine	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Kappa Mu		1933	Medicine	Local, University of the Philippines College of Medicine	Fraternity	Active
Phi Lambda Kappa		1907	Medicine	International	Fraternity	Active
Phi Rho Sigma		1890	Medicine	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Sigma Gamma		1890	Osteopathic	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Pi Mu		1892–1922	Medical honor society	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive, Merged	Template:Efn
Psi Omega		1892	Dentistry	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Rho Psi Eta		2007	Pre-Health Careers	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Sigma Mu Delta		1994	Pre-medical	Regional, California	Fraternity	Active
Sigma Phi Chi		1911	Chiropractic	Local, Palmer College of Chiropractic	Sorority	Active
Theta Kappa Psi		1879	Medicine	Local (previously International)	Fraternity	Active
Xi Psi Phi		1889	Dentistry	International	Fraternity, coed	Active

Military, government, and foreign service

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles		1966–1980s	Military	National (US)	Sorority	Inactive
Delta Phi Epsilon		1920	Foreign Service	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Delta Phi Epsilon		1972	Foreign Service	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Kappa Epsilon Psi		2011	Military	National/United States	Sorority	Active
Kappa Lambda Chi		2013	Military	National/United States	Fraternity	Active
Lambda Beta Alpha		2017	Military	Local, Virginia	Sorority	Active
Mu Beta Phi		2017	Military	International	Fraternity	Active
Pershing Angels		1965	Military Drill	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Pershing Rifles		1894	Military Drill	National (US)	Fraternity	Active
Scabbard and Blade		1904	Military honor	National (US)	Society, coed	Active

Music

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Delta Omicron		1909	Music	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Kappa Kappa Psi		1919	Band	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Mu Beta Psi		1925	Music	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Mu Phi Epsilon		1903	Music	International	Fraternity, coed	Active	Template:Efn
Nu Kappa Epsilon		1994	Music appreciation	National (US)	Sorority	Active
Phi Boota roota		1976	Percussion	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia		1898	Music, Social	National (US)	Fraternity	Active	Template:Efn
Sigma Alpha Iota		1903	Music	National (US)	Women's fraternity	Active
Tau Beta Sigma		1946	Band, Service	National (US)	Sorority, coed	Active

Pharmaceutical and pharmacological

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Alpha Zeta Omega		1919	Pharmacy	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Beta Phi Sigma		1888–1973	Pharmacy	National (US)	Fraternity	Inactive
Delta Sigma Theta		1914	Pharmacy, medical, and dentistry	International	Fraternity	Inactive
Kappa Epsilon		1921	Pharmacy	National (US)	Women's fraternity, coed	Active
Kappa Psi		1879	Pharmacy	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Lambda Kappa Sigma		1913	Pharmacy	National (US)	Women's fraternity, coed	Active
Phi Delta Chi		1883	Pharmacy	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Rho Chi		1922	Pharmacy honor society	National (US)	Society, coed	Active
Rho Pi Phi		1919	Pharmancy	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active

Other

Name	Symbols	Charter date and range	Emphasis	Scope	Type	Status	Reference
Alpha Epsilon Zeta		2003	Multidisciplinary	Local	Fraternity	Active
Alpha Eta Rho		1929	Aviation	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
American Criminal Justice Association–Lambda Alpha Epsilon		1937	Criminal Justice	International	Fraternity, coed	Active
Delta Omega Epsilon		1985	Civics, Academics	Local, NY Tri-state Area	Fraternity	Active	Template:Efn
Epsilon Eta		2006	Environmental, Sustainability	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Pi Sigma Eta		1930	Mortician honorary, funeral service	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Sigma Alpha Sigma Mu		2012	Sports management	Local, Ohio University	Fraternity, coed	Active
Sigma Phi Sigma			funeral service	National (US)	Fraternity, coed	Active
Sigma Psi Mu			Sports management and entertainment management	Local, University of South Carolina	Fraternity, coed	Active
Sigma Rho		1892	Mining	Local, Michigan Technological University	Fraternity	Active

See also

• College fraternities and sororities
• Honor society

External links

• Professional Fraternity Association webpage