Professional fraternities, in the
North American fraternity systemFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, 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
professionalA professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
education or study. This may be contrasted with
service fraternities and sororitiesService fraternity may refer to any fraternal public service organization, such as the Kiwanis or Rotary International. In Canada and the United States, the term fraternal organization is more common as "fraternity" in everyday usage refers to fraternal student societies.In the context of the North...
, whose primary purpose is community service, and general or social
fraternities and sororitiesFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, 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 societiesIn the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...
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. A few groups, such as
Phi Sigma PiPhi Sigma Pi is a national coeducational honor fraternity based in the United States. The fraternity is a 501 not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania, with the purpose of fostering the ideals of scholarship, leadership and fellowship...
, are considered to be both a fraternity and an honors organization. These honor fraternities require higher GPAs, like an honor society, but operate as a brotherhood, like a fraternity.
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.
History
The first professional fraternity was founded at
Transylvania UniversityTransylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
in
Lexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
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 PhiPhi Delta Phi, ΦΔΦ, is the world's second largest legal fraternity. Phi Delta Phi is the second oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States and third oldest in North America...
law fraternity, founded at the
University of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1869.
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 IXTitle IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
,"). 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 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 ChiPhi Chi is one of the oldest and largest international medical fraternities of its kind in the world. Phi Chi evolved from the merging of two professional medical fraternities bearing the same name. Phi Chi Society was founded on March 31, 1889, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt...
(medicine) opened membership to women in 1973;
Phi BetaPhi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative and Performing Arts is an American national professional college fraternity for the creative and performing arts. It was founded in 1912 at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois...
(music and speech) opened membership to men in 1976; and
Delta OmicronDelta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
(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 DeltaΦAΔ , or P.A.D., is the largest co-ed professional law fraternity in the United States of America. Phi Alpha Delta has members who are university students, law school students, lawyers, judges, senators, and even presidents. It was founded in 1902 and today has over 300,000 initiated members...
(law) in 1972. Many of the professional sororities also changed their names to use the term "fraternity" when they opened their membership to men. For example,
Mu Phi EpsilonMu Phi Epsilon is a co-ed international professional music fraternity and honor society. It boasts over 75,000 members in 128 collegiate chapters and 74 alumni chapters in the US and abroad.-History:...
(music) changed its name from sorority to fraternity when membership was opened to men in 1977.
Despite the fact that Title IX was enacted in 1972, there continues to be a number of professional fraternities and sororities or their chapters that have not become co-educational and therefore, do not conform to Title IX. Generally, these groups still claim to be both professional and social organizations, for instance,
Alpha Gamma RhoAlpha Gamma Rho is a social-professional fraternity in the United States, with 75 university chapters including chapter in Mindanao State University, Philippines...
(men in agriculture),
Alpha Omega EpsilonAlpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization...
(women in engineering), and
Sigma Phi DeltaΣΦΔ is an international social fraternity of engineers. Billing itself as "The Premier International Fraternity of Engineers", the organization is the only fraternity of its kind that draws its membership exclusively from male engineering students at ABET-accredited colleges and universities, as...
(men in engineering). Some do not conform on a chapter by chapter basis such as
Theta TauΘΤ Fraternity was founded in 1904 by four engineering students at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. As defined by the fraternity, the purpose of Theta Tau is to develop and maintain a high standard of professional interest among its members, and to unite them in a strong bond of...
, for instance at schools like NCSU where an equivalent female organization such as
Alpha Omega EpsilonAlpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization...
exists. Meanwhile,
Alpha Omega EpsilonAlpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization...
and
Sigma AlphaSigma Alpha is a professional agricultural sorority that promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship among its members.On January 26th, 1978 five young women, Ann Huling Mathews, Cindie Davis, Marilyn Burns, Jennifer McMillan and Amy Mathews, founded Sigma Alpha at the Ohio State...
(neither of which existed at the time Title IX was adopted and neither of which experienced the upheaval associated with its implementation) both have collegiate chapters that have joined their respective women’s Panhellenic Councils on campuses in order to stay female only.
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,
Phi Sigma RhoPhi Sigma Rho is a social sorority for women in engineering and engineering technology. The sorority was founded in 1984 at Purdue University by two young women. The first chapter of Phi Sigma Rho was installed on September 24, 1984, with 10 charter members....
,
Sigma Alpha IotaSigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
, and
TriangleTriangle Fraternity is a social fraternity, limiting its recruitment of members to male students majoring in engineering, architecture, and the physical, mathematical, biological, and computer sciences...
. Nevertheless, these groups claim to be 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 IotaSigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
in 1981 and Phi Mu Alpha in 1983.
Umbrella Organizations
Most major professional fraternities are members of the
Professional Fraternity AssociationThe Professional Fraternity Association is an association of national, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed 1978. Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing graduate degrees as well as undergraduate degrees...
. 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).
Agriculture
- ΑΓΡ - Alpha Gamma Rho
Alpha Gamma Rho is a social-professional fraternity in the United States, with 75 university chapters including chapter in Mindanao State University, Philippines...
- AgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- men's fraternity
- ΑΓΣ - Alpha Gamma Sigma
Alpha Gamma Sigma is a national social and professional agricultural fraternity that exists on eight campuses. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference...
- AgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- men's fraternity
- ΑΖ - Alpha Zeta
Alpha Zeta is a professional fraternity for students and industry professionals in the agriculture and natural resources fields. Founded in 1897 at The Ohio State University, Alpha Zeta is the first and oldest collegiate society for agriculture...
- AgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- ΔΘΣ - Delta Theta Sigma
Delta Theta Sigma is a social professional agricultural fraternity. It was created in 1906 at The Ohio State University. There are currently eight chapters of Delta Theta Sigma .-Purpose of Delta Theta Sigma:...
- AgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- ΣΑ - Sigma Alpha
Sigma Alpha is a professional agricultural sorority that promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship among its members.On January 26th, 1978 five young women, Ann Huling Mathews, Cindie Davis, Marilyn Burns, Jennifer McMillan and Amy Mathews, founded Sigma Alpha at the Ohio State...
- AgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- primarily female
Business
- ΑKΨ - Alpha Kappa Psi
ΑΚΨ is the oldest and largest professional business fraternity. The Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University, and was incorporated on May 20, 1905...
- BusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
- ΓΙΣ - Gamma Iota Sigma
Gamma Iota Sigma is a college academic fraternity, founded on April 16, 1966 at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.Gamma Iota Sigma is an international professional fraternity organized to promote, encourage and sustain student interest in insurance, risk management and actuarial science as...
- InsuranceIn law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
, Risk ManagementRisk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...
, Actuarial SciencesAn actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
- ΔΣΠ - Delta Sigma Pi
ΔΣΠ ' is one of the largest co-ed professional business fraternities. Delta Sigma Pi was founded on November 7, 1907 at the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, New York University, New York, New York and is currently headquartered in Oxford, Ohio...
- BusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
- ΦΓΝ - Phi Gamma Nu
Phi Gamma Nu is a co-ed professional business fraternity with the intent to prepare its members for professional endeavors in a business workplace. The organization cultivates professional behavior in it members through a variety of activities and committees...
- BusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
- ΦΧΘ - Phi Chi Theta
ΦΧΘ is a co-ed professional business and economics fraternity. Phi Chi Theta was founded as a women's business fraternity on June 16, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Today, Phi Chi Theta comprises 37 collegiate and alumni chapters across the United States.-History:Phi Chi Theta was formed by the merger...
- BusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
- ΠΣE - Pi Sigma Epsilon
'ΠΣΕ ' is the only national, professional fraternal organization in sales, marketing, and management in the United States. The fraternity was developed by four members of the Sales and Marketing Executives association of Atlanta, Georgia...
- MarketingMarketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
Chiropractic
- ΔΣΧ-Delta Sigma Chi
Delta Sigma Chi is an American fraternal organization for professionals in the area of Chiropractic.- History :In 1913, there were three chiropractic schools in Davenport, Iowa: the Palmer School of Chiropractic, Universal College of Chiropractic and the Davenport College of Chiropractic...
- ChiropracticChiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
- men's fraternity
- ΠKX - Pi Kappa Chi
Pi Kappa Chi is a professional fraternity which promotes the Doctor of Chiropractic and the chiropractic profession. It was founded in 1961 by Daniel David Palmer and students at Palmer College of Chiropractic...
- ChiropracticChiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
- men's fraternity
- XPΣ - Chi Rho Sigma - Chirorpractic - Co-Ed fraternity
Engineering & Architecture
- ΑΡΧ - Alpha Rho Chi
Alpha Rho Chi is a professional co-educational college fraternity for students studying architecture and related professions. The fraternity's name is derived from the first three letters of the Greek word for architecture, αρχιτεκτονική.-Founding:...
- ArchitectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
- ΑΩΕ - Alpha Omega Epsilon
Alpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization...
- EngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- women's sorority
- ΚHΚ - Kappa Eta Kappa
Kappa Eta Kappa is a nationally recognized co-ed professional fraternity that was founded in 1923 at the University of Iowa. KHK requires that members are majoring or will major in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science....
- electrical and computer engineering
- ΘΤ - Theta Tau
ΘΤ Fraternity was founded in 1904 by four engineering students at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. As defined by the fraternity, the purpose of Theta Tau is to develop and maintain a high standard of professional interest among its members, and to unite them in a strong bond of...
- EngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- ΣΦΔ - Sigma Phi Delta
ΣΦΔ is an international social fraternity of engineers. Billing itself as "The Premier International Fraternity of Engineers", the organization is the only fraternity of its kind that draws its membership exclusively from male engineering students at ABET-accredited colleges and universities, as...
- Computer ScienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and EngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- men's fraternity
- Scarab - Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
Law
- ΔΘΦ - Delta Theta Phi
Delta Theta Phi is a professional law fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. The smallest of the three internationally recognized law fraternities , Delta Theta Phi is the only one of the three major law fraternities to charter chapters in the United States at...
- LawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- ΚΑΠ - Kappa Alpha Pi - Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- ΦΑΔ - Phi Alpha Delta
ΦAΔ , or P.A.D., is the largest co-ed professional law fraternity in the United States of America. Phi Alpha Delta has members who are university students, law school students, lawyers, judges, senators, and even presidents. It was founded in 1902 and today has over 300,000 initiated members...
- LawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- ΦΔΦ - Phi Delta Phi
Phi Delta Phi, ΦΔΦ, is the world's second largest legal fraternity. Phi Delta Phi is the second oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States and third oldest in North America...
- LawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
Medicine
- AΓK - Alpha Gamma Kappa Fraternity
Alpha Gamma Kappa was founded in 1939 at the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. The Fraternity exists as the oldest and largest professional fraternal organization for students and practitioners of podiatric medicine in the United States and Canada.-Mission...
- PodiatryPodiatry is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. The term podiatry came into use first in the early 20th century United States, where it now denotes a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine , a specialist who is qualified by their...
- ΑKΠ - Alpha Kappa Pi
Alpha Kappa Pi Fraternity is a Professional fraternity with 6 active chapters.Founded at Universidad Central del Este in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic in 2005, by Luis A. Rivera...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΑZΩ - Alpha Zeta Omega
Alpha Zeta Omega is a co-ed, pharmaceutical, professional fraternity founded on December 19, 1919. It was originally known as the "Dead Men's Club".- Origins :...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- ΑΤΔ - Alpha Tau Delta - Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
- ΑΩ - Alpha Omega
Alpha Omega is a professional Jewish dental fraternity and the fourth oldest international dental fraternity after Delta Sigma Delta, Xi Psi Phi and Psi Omega, respectively. It was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1907 by a group of dental students originally to fight discrimination in dental...
- DentistryDentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
- ΑΨ - Alpha Psi Fraternity - Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
- BΣ - Beta Sigma - Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΧΗΦ - Chi Eta Phi
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc is a professional association for registered professional nurses and student nurses. Both men and women can become members. The Sorority has more than 8000 memembers. There are over 81 graduate chapters and 39 undergraduate chapters located in 26 stats, District of...
- NursingNursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
- ΔΕΜ - Delta Epsilon Mu
ΔΕΜ , commonly nicknamed DEM, is a Professional fraternity for male and female college students in the United States who are interested in or currently study in the pre-health field. It was founded in Fall 1996 at Binghamton University, in Binghamton, New York...
- HealthHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
- ΔΣΔ - Delta Sigma Delta
Delta Sigma Delta is the oldest international professional dental fraternity. Two dental students, Lou Mitchell and Chas Howard, at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor were invited to join Nu Sigma Nu, a medical fraternity. However, they decided to decline as their...
- DentistryDentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- ΔΣΘ - Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- ΔNT - Delta Nu Tau - Pre-Dentistry
- ΓΠΔ - Gamma Pi delta - Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
- Prosthodontic Honor Society
- ΚΓΔ - Kappa Gamma Delta
Kappa Gamma Delta is a professional college sorority for women studying medicine and related professions.-Purpose:To assist female college students in the premedical process; to encourage the development of leadership, communication skills, and maturity; to provide support academically, socially,...
- Pre-medicalPre-medical is a term used to describe a track an undergraduate student in the United States pursues prior to becoming a medical student...
- ΚΕ - Kappa Epsilon
Kappa Epsilon is a professional pharmacy fraternity founded by Zada M. Cooper on May 13, 1921. It was founded with the purpose of uniting female pharmacy students in an era when women were a minority in the profession. Today, KE has 38 collegiate chapters and 10 alumni chapters...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- primarily women
- KTE - Kappa Tau Epsilon - Podiatry
Podiatry is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. The term podiatry came into use first in the early 20th century United States, where it now denotes a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine , a specialist who is qualified by their...
- ΚΨ - Kappa Psi
Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Incorporated, is both the oldest and largest professional pharmaceutical fraternity in the world. It was founded on May 30, 1879, by F. Harvey Smith on the campus of Russell Military Academy in New Haven, Connecticut. The Central Office of Kappa Psi is located...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- ΛΚΣ - Lambda Kappa Sigma
ΛKΣ headquartered in Muskego, Wisconsin is an international pharmacy fraternity founded in 1913 by Ethel J. Heath and eight other female students at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- primarily women
- ΠM - Pi Mu Honor Society
Pi Mu, ΠM, was founded on December 13, 1892 at the University of Virginia by John W. Mallet, Hugh I. Cummings, Powell C. Fauntleroy, Hugh T. McGuire, E. L. Hobson, Nicholas Wothington, Rawley Penick, Charles E. Marrow, James S. Irving, Rawley Martin and Hugh H. Duke. Dr. Mallet designed the name...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- Merged with Phi ChiPhi Chi is one of the oldest and largest international medical fraternities of its kind in the world. Phi Chi evolved from the merging of two professional medical fraternities bearing the same name. Phi Chi Society was founded on March 31, 1889, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt...
in 1922
- ΣΜΔ - Sigma Mu Delta
Sigma Mu Delta is a pre-medical fraternity founded at University of California, Davis in 1994. It is the first organization of its kind on the West coast. Currently, Sigma Mu Delta has chapters at the University of California, Davis; the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of...
- Pre-medicalPre-medical is a term used to describe a track an undergraduate student in the United States pursues prior to becoming a medical student...
- ΣΦХ -Sigma Phi Chi - Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
women's sorority
- ΦΑΓ - Phi Alpha Gamma
Phi Alpha Gamma , was founded at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, March 25, 1894, by Thomas D. Buchanan, Thomas F. Davies, Edmund M. De Vol, Robert M. Jones, Brooks DeF. Worwood, Arthur B. Smith and Harry S. Willard. Beta chapter was founded at the Boston University School of Medicine,...
- Osteopathic medicineOsteopathic medicine is a branch of the medical profession in the United States. Osteopathic physicians, known as DOs, are licensed to practice medicine and surgery in all 50 states and are recognized in forty-seven other countries, including most Canadian provinces.Frontier physician Andrew Taylor...
- Merged with Phi ChiPhi Chi is one of the oldest and largest international medical fraternities of its kind in the world. Phi Chi evolved from the merging of two professional medical fraternities bearing the same name. Phi Chi Society was founded on March 31, 1889, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt...
in 1948
- ΦΑΣ - Phi Alpha Sigma - Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΦΒΠ - Phi Beta Pi
Phi Beta Pi Medical FraternityFounded March 10, 1891, at the West Pennsylvania Medical College as an anti-fraternity society. It was originally known as Pi Beta Phi but changed its name because of an existing sorority with the same name.Badge is a diamond of gold with emerald points and pearl edges...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΦΔΕ - Phi Delta Epsilon
- History :In October 1904, Aaron Brown and eight of his friends founded Phi Delta Epsilon at Cornell University Medical College. During the first decade of this century there were many doors closed to Jewish medical students and physicians, doors which would not fully open until after World War II...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΦΔΧ - Phi Delta Chi
Phi Delta Chi, was founded on 2 November 1883 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor by 11 men, led by Dean Albert B. Prescott. The fraternity was formed to advance the science of pharmacy and its allied interests, and to foster and promote a fraternal spirit among its brothers, now both male...
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- ΦΣΓ - Phi Sigma Gamma
Phi Sigma Gamma is a male Osteopathic Medical fraternity founded in 1917 at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and is now survived by the brothers of the Zeta Chapter at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine . The Zeta Chapter of PSG is the only fraternity remaining at PCOM. The...
- Men's Osteopathic Fraternity
- ΦΡΣ - Phi Rho Sigma - Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΦΧ - Phi Chi
Phi Chi is one of the oldest and largest international medical fraternities of its kind in the world. Phi Chi evolved from the merging of two professional medical fraternities bearing the same name. Phi Chi Society was founded on March 31, 1889, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- ΩΤΣ - Omega Tau Sigma - Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
- ΩYΦ - Omega Upsilon Phi
Omega Upsilon Phi, ΩΥΦ, was founded at the University of Buffalo on November 15, 1894, by Amos T. Baker, John M. Garratt, Frank O. Garrison, Lawrence Hendee, Elbert W. LaWall, George H. Minard, George S. Staniland, Edward A. Southall, Townsend Walker, Henry Joslyn and Ross G. Loop. The crest is a...
- MedicineMedicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- Defunct after Phi Beta PiPhi Beta Pi Medical FraternityFounded March 10, 1891, at the West Pennsylvania Medical College as an anti-fraternity society. It was originally known as Pi Beta Phi but changed its name because of an existing sorority with the same name.Badge is a diamond of gold with emerald points and pearl edges...
1934 merger. Alpha Chapter joined Phi ChiPhi Chi is one of the oldest and largest international medical fraternities of its kind in the world. Phi Chi evolved from the merging of two professional medical fraternities bearing the same name. Phi Chi Society was founded on March 31, 1889, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt...
- PΠΦ - Rho Pi Phi
Rho Pi Phi International Pharmaceutical Fraternity is a co-ed professional fraternity that dedicates itself to the profession of pharmacy and to friendship, professionalism, and community service....
- PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
Military, Government, & Foreign Service
- ΔΟΣ - Delta Omicron Sigma
Delta Omicron Sigma is a national veterans' fraternity based in the United States.Membership is open to all honorably discharged military veterans, current and discharged reservists, and National Guard or Coast Guard members...
- Military veterans
- ΔΦΕ - Delta Phi Epsilon
Delta Phi Epsilon is the only national professional foreign service fraternity and sorority. Founded at Georgetown University on January 25, 1920, the society's mission is to promote good fellowship and brotherhood among persons studying or engaged in foreign service...
- Foreign ServiceThe United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
- Scabbard and Blade
Scabbard and Blade is a college military honor society founded at the University of Wisconsin in 1904. Although membership is open to R.O.T.C. cadets and midshipmen of all military services, the society is modeled after the U.S. Army and its chapters are called companies and are organized into...
- MilitaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
Music
- ΔΟ - Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
- MusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- ΚΚΨ - Kappa Kappa Psi
Kappa Kappa Psi is a fraternity for college and university band members. It was founded on November 27, 1919 at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma. William Scroggs, now regarded as the "Founder," together with "Mr. Kappa Kappa Psi" A...
- BandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
- ΤΒΣ - Tau Beta Sigma
Tau Beta Sigma is a co-educational national honorary band sorority dedicated to serving college and university bands. The Sorority, headquartered at the historic Stillwater Station in Stillwater, Oklahoma, numbers over 3,500 active members in 145 active chapters, and over 40,000 alumni...
- BandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
- ΜΦΕ - Mu Phi Epsilon
Mu Phi Epsilon is a co-ed international professional music fraternity and honor society. It boasts over 75,000 members in 128 collegiate chapters and 74 alumni chapters in the US and abroad.-History:...
- MusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- ΣΑΙ - Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
- MusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- primarily women
- ΦΜΑ - Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
- [social music]
Other
- ΑΗΡ - Alpha Eta Rho
Alpha Eta Rho is a coed international professional college aviation fraternity that serves as a contact between the aviation industry and educational institutions. The fraternity strives to foster, promote, and mentor today's college students towards successful careers in aviation, aeronautical...
- AviationAviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
- ΑΧΣ - Alpha Chi Sigma
Alpha Chi Sigma is a professional fraternity specializing in the field of chemistry. It has both collegiate and professional chapters throughout the United States consisting of both men and women and numbering more than 63,400 members...
- ChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
- BIO - Beta Iota Omicron - Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
- ΓΕΤ - Gamma Epsilon Tau
Gamma Epsilon Tau is a co-ed national collegiate fraternity for members of the Graphic Arts. The fraternity has currently eight active chapters, with the national chapter located at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.- About GET :...
- Printing and Digital Media
- ΔΚA - Delta Kappa Alpha
Delta Kappa Alpha is a co-educational professional fraternity founded in 1936, at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California....
- CinemaFilmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
- ΖΦΗ - Zeta Phi Eta
Zeta Phi Eta is a national professional fraternity in Communication Arts and Sciences.- History :Zeta Phi Eta is the oldest national group of its kind - it was founded on October 10, 1893 under the inspiration and guidance of Dr. Robert McLean Cumnock. The founding members were Edith DeVore, Maude...
- CommunicationCommunication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
arts & sciences
- ΡΠΦ - Rho Pi Phi
Rho Pi Phi International Pharmaceutical Fraternity is a co-ed professional fraternity that dedicates itself to the profession of pharmacy and to friendship, professionalism, and community service....
- PharmacologyPharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
- ΦΑΤ - Phi Alpha Tau
Phi Alpha Tau is the oldest professional communicative arts fraternity in the United States, founded in 1902 by Walter Bradley Tripp at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded to support the student-run debate society at Emerson College, and maintain its status as a student run...
- Communicative Arts
- ΦΒ - Phi Beta
Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative and Performing Arts is an American national professional college fraternity for the creative and performing arts. It was founded in 1912 at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois...
- Creative and Performing ArtsThe performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
- ΦΣΠ - Phi Sigma Pi
Phi Sigma Pi is a national coeducational honor fraternity based in the United States. The fraternity is a 501 not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania, with the purpose of fostering the ideals of scholarship, leadership and fellowship...
- National Honor Fraternity
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