The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an American 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 Panhellenic 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.
Professional Panhellenic Association
On June 26, 1925, representatives from fourteen professional fraternities for women attended an organizational meeting in Washington, D.C. During the summer a provisional constitution was ratified by the following eleven fraternities: Delta Omicron (music), Kappa Beta Pi (law), Omicron Nu (home economics), Phi Beta (music and speech), Phi Delta Pi (physical education), Phi Chi Theta (commerce), Phi Delta Delta (law), Phi Upsilon Omicron (home economics), Pi Lambda Theta (education), Sigma Sigma Sigma (education), and Theta Sigma Phi (journalism). Two additional fraternities, Sigma Alpha Iota (music) and Iota Sigma Pi (chemistry), soon ratified the constitution. The resulting thirteen member groups participated in the second annual conference on November 26, 1926.[1]: 14 Originally known as Women's Professional Panhellenic Association until 1941, when the revised name was adopted.[1]: 14
Professional Interfraternity Conference
On March 2–3, 1928, delegates from 27 professional fraternities came together in Washington, DC to organize the PIC.[2] 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.[5]
Chartering organizations:
Alpha Delta Theta – Medical Technology
Alpha Kappa Psi – Business Administration
Alpha Rho Chi – Architecture
Alpha Tau Delta – Nursing
Alpha Chi Sigma – Chemistry
Alpha Omega – Dentistry
Delta Theta Phi – Law
Delta Omicron – Music
Delta Sigma Delta – Dentistry
Delta Sigma Pi – Business Administration
Delta Psi Kappa – Physical Education
Zeta Phi Eta – Communication Arts and Sciences
Kappa Beta Pi – Law
Kappa Delta Epsilon – Education
Kappa Epsilon – Pharmacy
Kappa Psi – Pharmacy
Lambda Kappa Sigma – Pharmacy
Mu Phi Epsilon – Music
Xi Psi Phi – Dentistry
Rho Pi Phi – Pharmacy
Sigma Alpha Iota – Music
Sigma Delta Kappa – Law
Sigma Phi Delta – Engineering
Phi Alpha Delta – Law
Phi Beta – Music, Speech, Drama and Dance
Phi Beta Pi-Theta Kappa Psi – Medical
Phi Gamma Nu – Business
Phi Delta Epsilon – Medical
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia – Music
Phi Rho Sigma – Medicine
Phi Chi – Medicine
Phi Chi Theta – Business and Economics
Psi Omega – Dentistry
Omega Tau Sigma – Veterinary Medicine
Current members
Current membership of active members as of June 25, 2019.[6]
This includes the member organizations of the two former groups (PIC, PPA) that merged to form the PFA and organizations not currently active within the PFA.[6][23][24]
Note 1: PIC Charterer indicates participation in the "Preparatory Conference" at the Hamilton Hotel, Washington, D.C., on March 2 and 3, 1928.[1]: 13 [44]
Note 2: PPA Charterer indicates ratification of the provisional constitution of the PPA by the Second Annual Conference on November 26, 1926.[1]: 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.[23][1]: 15
Note 4: Membership in 1968 only included in notes if group was not a charterer for both PPA/PIC and PFA.
^Shehat, Diane Mulvey (2010). "A History of the Women's Professional Pharmacy Fraternities, 1913-1988". Pharmacy in History. 52 (1): 24–45. JSTOR41112453. PMID20973453.
^"Alpha Omega". The Fraternity Month. Vol. 10, no. 3. 1943. p. 37.
^Estelle Gilman (1 October 1946). "Affiliated Organizations: VIII. Delta Psi Kappa". The Journal of Health and Physical Education. 17 (8): 482–502. doi:10.1080/23267240.1946.10627356.
^Josephine Christaldi (1 December 1946). "Affiliated Organizations: X. Phi Delta Pi". The Journal of Health and Physical Education. 17 (10): 598–639. doi:10.1080/23267240.1946.10626724.
^Wilbur C. DeTurk; Fred E. Foertsch (1 January 1947). "Affiliated Organizations: XI. Phi Epsilon Kappa Fraternity". The Journal of Health and Physical Education. 18 (1): 11–42. doi:10.1080/23267240.1947.10625216.
Former and formerly active members of the Professional Fraternity Association or its predecessors: Professional Panhellenic Association or Professional Interfraternity Conference