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 general or 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 actually 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 in order 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.
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History
The first professional fraternity was founded at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky in 1819: the Kappa Lambda Society of Aesculapius, established for the purpose of bringing 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.
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Title IX applied to professional fraternities
Professional fraternities, in the United States fraternity system, are usually co-educational in accord with Federal Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (commonly referred to as "Title IX"). This federal law discourages discrimination on the basis of 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 Department of Education (DOE) regulations adopted pursuant to Title IX also allow such an exception for "the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities." (34 C.F.R. Sec. 106.14(a)).
Prior to 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 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.
Despite the fact that Title IX was enacted in 1972, there continues to be 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).
It is interesting to note that a few 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 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 groups) and the Professional Panhellenic Association (PPA) (for women's groups). In 2013, faced with an increase in campus policies that undermine the integrity of the professional fraternity experience, the PFA adopted a resolution against All Comers policies. The effect of the dissemination of All Comers policies on campuses is to dis-value discipline-specific fraternal organizations in the Professional Fraternity Association, and over time will likely lead to the generalization/socialization of PFA member groups.
List of professional fraternities
Art
- ?? - Kappa Pi - Art - co-ed international art fraternity
Agriculture
- ??? - Alpha Gamma Rho - agriculture - men's fraternity, not co-ed
- ??? - Alpha Gamma Sigma - agriculture; men's fraternity, not co-ed
- ?? - Alpha Zeta - agriculture; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1972
- ??? - Delta Theta Sigma - agriculture; co-ed
- ?? - Sigma Alpha - agriculture; women's sorority, co-ed by chapter
Business
- ??? - Alpha Kappa Psi - business; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1976
- ??? - Delta Sigma Pi - business; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1975
- ??? - Epsilon Nu Tau - entrepreneurship; co-ed
- ??? - Gamma Iota Sigma - insurance, risk management, actuarial sciences; co-ed
- ??? - Phi Chi Theta - business; originally a women's sorority, co-ed since 1976
- ??? - Phi Gamma Nu - business; originally a women's sorority, co-ed since 1974
- ??? - Pi Sigma Epsilon - marketing, sales; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1974
- ???? - Sigma Alpha Sigma Mu - sport management; co-ed
Chiropractic
- ??? - Chi Rho Sigma - chiropractic; co-ed
- ??? - Delta Sigma Chi - chiropractic; men's fraternity
- ??? - Pi Kappa Chi - chiropractic; men's fraternity
Engineering, architecture, and science
- ??? - Alpha Omega Epsilon - engineering; women's sorority, established November 13, 1983
- ??? - Alpha Rho Chi - architecture
- ??? - Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies (WiTS) - architecture, engineering, mathematics, and sciences; women's social sorority, established May 1, 1989
- ??? - Kappa Eta Kappa - electrical and computer engineering
- ??? - Phi Sigma Rho - engineering and engineering technology; women's sorority, established 1984
- ??? - Sigma Phi Delta - engineering; men's fraternity, established April 11, 1924
- ?? - Theta Tau - engineering; founded October 15, 1904, largest, oldest, and foremost fraternity for engineers
Law
- ??? - Delta Theta Phi - law - originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1971
- ??? - Kappa Alpha Pi - law; co-ed
- ??? - Phi Alpha Delta - law; co-ed
Medicine
- ??? - Alpha Gamma Kappa - podiatry; co-ed
- ??? - Alfa Kappa Pi - medicine; Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
- ?? - Alpha Omega - dentistry; co-ed
- ?? - Alpha Psi Fraternity - veterinary medicine
- ??? - Alpha Tau Delta - nursing; co-ed
- BSK -Beta Sigma Kappa - Optometry
- ??? - Chi Eta Phi - nursing; primarily an African American women's sorority
- ??? - Delta Epsilon Mu - health
- ??? - Delta Sigma Delta - dentistry
- ??? - Epsilon Psi Epsilon - optometry; local fraternity at Ohio State University
- ??? - Kappa Gamma Delta - pre-medical
- ??? - Kappa Tau Epsilon - podiatry
- ??? - Mu Epsilon Delta - health
- ??? - Nu Sigma Nu - medicine
- ??? - Nu Rho Psi - neuroscience
- ??? - Omega Tau Sigma - veterinary medicine
- ??? - Omega Upsilon Phi - medicine; defunct after Phi Beta Pi 1934 merger; Alpha Chapter joined Phi Chi
- ??? - Phi Alpha Gamma - osteopathic medicine; merged with Phi Chi in 1948
- ??? - Phi Alpha Sigma - medicine
- ??? - Phi Beta Pi - medicine
- ?? - Phi Chi - medicine
- ??? - Phi Delta Epsilon - medicine
- ??? - Phi Sigma Gamma - men's osteopathic fraternity
- ??? - Phi Rho Sigma - medicine
- ?? - Pi Mu Honor Society - medicine; merged with Phi Chi in 1922
- ?? - Psi Omega - dentistry
- ??? - Sigma Mu Delta - pre-medical
- ??? - Sigma Phi Chi - chiropractic women's sorority
- ??? - Theta Kappa Psi - medicine
- ??? - Xi Psi Phi - dentistry
Military, government, and foreign service
- ??? Sigma Phi Psi Military Sorority, Inc - current and former female members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2000
- ??? Alpha Gamma Xi - current and former female members of the United States Armed Forces (to include Women who have been granted Veteran Status), Founded 2014
- ??? - Delta Phi Epsilon - Foreign Service
- ??? - Kappa Epsilon Psi Military Sorority, Inc. - current and former female members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2011
- ??? - Kappa Lambda Chi Military Fraternity - current and former male members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2013
- ??? - Sigma Alpha Gamma Military Fraternity, Inc. - Current & former male members of US Armed Forces, Founded 2015
- ??? - Delta Omicron Alpha Military Sorority - Current and former female members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2016
- ??? - Pi Rho Sigma Military Society, Inc. - Current and former male members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2014
- ??? - Rho Upsilon Tau Military Sorority - Current and former female members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2016
- ??? - Theta Nu Psi Military Fraternity - Current and former male members of the United States Armed Forces, Founded 2017
- Pershing Rifles - military fraternity
- Pershing Angels - military sorority
- Scabbard and Blade - military
Music
- ?? - Delta Omicron - music; originally a women's sorority, co-ed since 1977
- ??? - Kappa Kappa Psi - band; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1977
- ??? - Mu Beta Psi - music; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since 1961
- ??? - Mu Phi Epsilon - music; originally a women's sorority, co-ed since 1977
- ??? - Phi Mu Alpha - music; originally a men's music social fraternity since 1898, was temporarily co-ed from 1976 to 1983, but has been all-male ever since. It revered back to a Social Fraternty in 1985 to align with its original founding.
- ??? - Pi Nu Epsilon - music; co-ed music fraternity founded 1927
- ??? - Sigma Alpha Iota - music; women's music fraternity since 1903, accepts honorary male members
- ??? - Tau Beta Sigma - band; originally a women's sorority, co-ed since 1977
Performing arts
- ??? - Gamma Xi Phi - literature, visual, and performing arts
- ??? - Delta Chi Xi - dance; co-ed fraternity
- ?? - Phi Beta - creative and performing arts
Pharmaceutical and pharmacological
- ??? - Alpha Zeta Omega - pharmacy; originally a men's fraternity, co-ed since the early 1970s
- ?? - Kappa Epsilon - originally a women's fraternity, now co-ed
- ?? - Kappa Psi - pharmacy; co-ed since the mid-1970s
- ??? - Lambda Kappa Sigma - pharmacy; originally a women's fraternity, co-ed since 1988
- ??? - Phi Delta Chi - pharmacy
- ??? - Rho Pi Phi - pharmacy
Other
- ??? - Alpha Chi Sigma - chemistry; co-ed
- ??? - Alpha Eta Rho - aviation
- ??? - Beta Psi Omega - biology
- ??A - Delta Kappa Alpha - cinema
- ??? - Delta Kappa Phi - textiles
- ??? - Gamma Epsilon Tau - printing and digital media
- ??? - Kappa Delta Pi - education
- ?? - Kappa Pi - international honorary art fraternity
- ??? - Kappa Theta Pi - information technology professional fraternity, founded in 2012 at the University of Michigan
- ??? - Lambda Alpha Epsilon - the American Criminal Justice Association
- ??? - Omicron Delta Epsilon - economics
- ??? - Phi Alpha Tau - communicative arts
- ??? - Phi Delta Kappa - education sorority
- ??? - Phi Sigma Pi - national honor fraternity
- ??? - Pi Mu Epsilon - mathematics
- ??? - Zeta Phi Eta - communication arts and sciences
- ??? - Zeta Theta Omega - zoology
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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