What is a Professional Fraternity?

 

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. 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.