Professional Fraternity Association

PFA

The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an association of national, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed in 1978. Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing graduate (law, medicine, etc.) degrees as well as undergraduate (business, engineering, etc.) degrees. PFA groups seek to develop their members professionally in addition to the social development commonly associated with general fraternities. Membership requirements of the PFA are broad enough to include groups that do not recruit new members from a single professional discipline. The PFA has welcomed service and honor fraternities as members; however, Greek letter honor societies more commonly belong to the Association of College Honor Societies.

History

The Professional Panhellenic Association (PPA), for women's groups, was founded in 1925, and the Professional Interfraternity Conference (PIC), for men's groups, was founded in 1928. These groups came about due to rapid growth among all types of fraternities during the late 1920s. On March 2–3, 1928, delegates from 27 professional fraternities came together in Washington, DC to organize the PIC. Jarvis Butler of Sigma Nu Phi was elected as the first president, and Stroud Jordan of Alpha Chi Sigma was elected as the first Secretary-treasurer.

The PFA resulted from the merger of the Professional Interfraternity Conference and the Professional Panhellenic Association in 1978. The merger itself was the result of the impact of Title IX on most fraternal groups with professional affiliations.

The most recent addition of member organizations was in the summer of 2013, when Phi Gamma Nu and Delta Kappa Alpha were approved for membership.^[1]

Current members

Current membership of active members as of January 31, 2016.^[2]

Fraternity	Founded	Focus	Active collegiate groups	Collegiate charters granted	Initiates	Notes
Alpha Zeta	1897	Agriculture			116,000
Alpha Kappa Psi	1904	Business	216	326	259,000	PIC Charterer,[3] PFA Charterer
Alpha Rho Chi	1914	Architecture	20	30	5,500	PIC Charterer,[3] PFA Charterer
Alpha Phi Omega	1925	Service	361	733	350,000
Alpha Chi Sigma	1902	Chemistry	49	97	65,000	PIC Charterer,[3][4] PFA Charterer
Alpha Omega Epsilon	1983	Engineering	25	26	2,000
Delta Epsilon Mu	1996	Pre-health
Delta Theta Phi	1900	Law			125,000	PIC Charterer,[3][5] Not member in 1933,[6] PFA Charterer
Delta Kappa Alpha	1936	Cinema	12		9,000
Delta Omicron	1909	Music			27,000	PPA Charterer, PFA Charterer
Delta Sigma Pi	1907	Business	223	293	270,000	PIC Charterer,[3][7] PFA Charterer
Epsilon Nu Tau	2008	Entrepreneurship
Theta Tau	1904	Engineering	50	58	30,000	PIC Charterer,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Kappa Epsilon	1921	Pharmaceutical			24,400	Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Kappa Kappa Psi	1919	Band	196	313	66,000
Kappa Psi	1879	Pharmaceutical	75	125	80,000	PIC Charterer, PFA Charterer
Lambda Kappa Sigma	1913	Pharmacy			19,000	Voted to join PPA in 1938,[9] Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Mu Phi Epsilon	1903	Music			75,000	Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Pi Sigma Epsilon	1952	Marketing			60,000
Rho Pi Phi	1919	Pharmaceutical			10,000	Joined PIC in 1949,[10] not a member in 1957,[3] Member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Sigma Alpha	1978	Agriculture			4,000
Sigma Alpha Iota	1903	Music			105,376	PPA Charterer, PFA Charterer
Tau Beta Sigma	1946	Band			21,000
Phi Alpha Delta	1902	Law			260,000	PIC Charterer, Not member of PIC in 1933,[6] member in 1950,[10] PFA Charterer
Phi Beta	1912	Creative and performing arts	3	55	30,000	PPA Charterer, PFA Charterer
Phi Gamma Nu	1924	Business	10	115	35,000	Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Phi Delta Epsilon	1904	Medicine			33,000	Joined PIC in 1928,[3] member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Phi Delta Chi	1883	Pharmacy			43,000	PIC Charterer, member of PIC in 1968[8]
Phi Sigma Pi	1916	Honors			31,000	Joined PIC in 1928[3]
Phi Chi Theta	1924	Business			47,000	PPA Charterer, PFA Charterer
Omega Tau Sigma	1906	Veterinary			8,000	Joined PIC in 1956,[3] member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Pershing Rifles	1894	Military sciences

Former members

This includes the member organizations of the two former groups that merged to form the PFA and organizations not currently active within the PFA.^[2][11][12]

Fraternity	Founded	Focus	Active collegiate groups	Collegiate charters granted	Initiates	Notes
Alpha Delta Theta	1944	Medical technology				Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Alpha Delta Sigma	1913	Advertising				PIC Charterer, merged with Gamma Alpha Chi (similar for women) in 1969
Alpha Kappa Kappa	1889	Medicine				Joined PIC in 1928,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Alpha Sigma Alpha	1901	Education				PPA membership alongside membership in Association of Education Sororities which was later merged with National Panhellenic Conference[13]
Alpha Tau Delta	1921	Nursing			10,000	Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Alpha Omega	1907	Dentistry			15,000	PIC Charterer Joined PIC in 1954[3] PFA Charterer
Beta Alpha Psi	1919	Accounting				PIC Charterer, now an honorary organization
Gamma Eta Gamma	1901	Law				PIC Charterer,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Gamma Iota Sigma	1965	Insurance			13,000
Delta Epsilon Iota	1994	Career Development
Delta Sigma Delta	1882	Dentistry				Joined PIC in 1933,[3] Member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Delta Psi Kappa	1916	Physical education				Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Epsilon Eta Phi	1927	Commerce and business administration				Member of PPA in 1968,[8] Merged with Phi Chi Theta in 1973[14]
Zeta Phi Eta	1893	Communication arts and sciences				Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Theta Kappa Psi	1879	Medicine				PIC Charterer individually, PFA Charterer as part of Phi Beta Pi-Theta Kappa Psi
Theta Sigma Upsilon	1921	Education				PPA membership alongside membership in Association of Education Sororities which was later merged with National Panhellenic Conference[13]
Theta Sigma Phi	1909	Journalism				PPA Charterer, member of PPA in 1968[8]
Iota Sigma Pi	1902	Chemistry				PPA Charterer, member of PPA in 1968[8]
Kappa Alpha Pi	2007	Law		8	800
Kappa Beta Pi	1908	Law				PPA Charterer, PFA Charterer
Kappa Delta Epsilon	1933	Education			44,000	Member of PPA in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Kappa Eta Kappa	1923	Electrical engineering				PIC Charterer
Kappa Phi Kappa	1922	Education				PIC Charterer[3]
Nu Sigma Nu	1882	Medicine				Joined PIC in 1933[3]
Xi Psi Phi	1889	Dentistry				Joined PIC in 1933,[3] Member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Omicron Delta Kappa	1914	Leadership				PIC Charterer, originally a men's leadership fraternity; now a co-ed honorary organization
Omicron Nu	1912	Home economics				PPA Charterer
Pi Lambda Theta	1910	Education				PPA Charterer
Sigma Delta Kappa	1914	Law				Joined PIC in 1933,[3] Member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Sigma Delta Chi	1909	Journalism				Joined PIC in 1941[3]
Sigma Nu Phi	1903	Law				PIC Charterer, not a PIC member in 1957[3] merged with Delta Theta Phi in 1989
Sigma Sigma Sigma	1898	Education				PPA Charterer, PPA membership alongside membership in Association of Education Sororities which was later merged with National Panhellenic Conference[13]
Sigma Phi Delta	1924	Engineering			8,000	Joined PIC in 1929,[3] Junior member as of 1933[6] Member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA charterer
Phi Beta Gamma	1922	Law				PIC Charterer,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Phi Beta Pi	1891	Medicine				PIC Charterer individually, PFA Charterer as part of Phi Beta Pi-Theta Kappa Psi
Phi Delta Gamma	1924[15]	Forensic				PIC Charterer
Phi Delta Delta	1911	Law				PPA Charterer, merged with Phi Alpha Delta
Phi Delta Kappa	1906	Education				Joined PIC in 1928[3]
Phi Delta Pi	1916	Physical education				PPA Charterer, member of PPA in 1968[8]
Phi Delta Phi	1869	Law				Joined PIC in 1938,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Phi Epsilon Kappa	1913	Physical education				Joined PIC in 1928,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Phi Lambda Kappa	1907	Medicine				Joined PIC in 1938,[3] member of PIC in 1968[8]
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia	1898	Music				Joined PIC in 1954,[3] PFA Charterer, left the PFA in 2007, reverted to its historical founding as a social fraternity
Phi Rho Sigma	1890	Medicine			33,000	PIC Charterer, PFA Charterer
Phi Upsilon Omicron	1909	Home Economics				PPA Charterer
Phi Chi	1889	Medicine				Joined PIC in 1928,[3] member of PIC in 1968,[8] PFA Charterer
Chi Beta Phi	1916	Science				PIC Charterer
Psi Omega	1892	Dentistry				PIC Charterer,[3] PFA Charterer
Omega Upsilon Phi	1894	Medicine				PIC Charterer, still member in 1933,[6] no longer member in 1957[3]
Scabbard and Blade	1904	Military				PIC Charterer
Scarab	1909	Architecture				PIC Charterer, PIC member in 1933,[6] no longer member in 1957[3]

Notes

• Note 1: PIC Charterer indicates participation in the "Preparatory Conference" at the Hamilton Hotel, Washington, D.C., on March 2 and 3, 1928.^[16]:13[17]
• Note 2: PPA Charterer indicates ratification of the provisional constitution of the PPA by the Second Annual Conference on November 26, 1926.^[16]:14
• Note 3: PFA Charterer indicates membership in good standing in the PPA or PIC at the time of the merger and thus by the agreement of the joint conference in October 1977, charter members.^[11][16]:15
• Note 4: Membership in 1968 only included in notes if group was not a charterer for both PPA/PIC and PFA.

References

1. "New Members Approved" (PDF). Professional Fraternity Association. Summer 2013: 2.
2. "Fraternal Members Listing | Professional Fraternity Association". Retrieved January 31, 2016.
3. Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Menasha, WI;George Banta Company, Incorporated. 1957.
4. "Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity Sourcebook" (2013-2014 ed.).
5. "Barrister News, Volume 1, Number 4, Fall Semester, 1955". The Portal to Texas History. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
6. report of the Professional Interfraternity Conference 1933
7. "Alumni Spotlight: Gig Wright". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
8. Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Menasha,WI;George Banta Company, Incorporated. 1968.
9. LKS History
10. Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950
11. "History | Professional Fraternity Association". Retrieved January 31, 2016.
12. "PFA Board Meeting Minutes September 2015" (Word Document).
13. Edith Manzell (October 1944). "The Report of the Association of Education Sororities Representative". The Anchor. p. 20.
14. Phi Chi Theta Bylaws - August 2014
15. The Literary Scroll Vol 2 No 2 (February 1929)
16. "The Archi Pledge" (PDF) (2013 ed.). Retrieved February 1, 2016.
17. The Archi of Alpha Rho Chi V IX, No. 7 April 30, 1928, p1

External links

• Official site