Fraternities and Sororities in North America - Types of Greek Letter Organizations

Types of Greek Letter Organizations

Further information: List of social fraternities and sororities, service fraternities and sororities, professional fraternities and sororities, College literary societies, and honor society

Most Greek letter organizations are social organizations, presenting themselves as societies to help their members better themselves in a social setting.

A variety of Greek letter organizations are distinguished from social groups by their function. They can be specifically organized for service to the community, for professional advancement, or for scholastic achievement.

Certain organizations were established for specific religious or ethnic groups, while others focus on numerous qualifications. For example, Phi Sigma Pi, the only national honor fraternity, stresses both academic achievement and leadership in the community. Some social organizations are expressly Christian, such as Alpha Chi Rho (founded as Christian, presently non-exclusive). Jewish fraternities, such as Alpha Epsilon Pi, Zeta Beta Tau, and Sigma Alpha Mu (historically Jewish, but has been non-sectarian since the 1950s) were established, in part, in response to restrictive clauses that existed in many social fraternities' laws barring Jewish membership, which were removed in the mid-20th century. A controversy remains between the idea of creating supportive communities for distinct groups on the one hand and the intent to create non-discriminatory communities on the other.

There are also organizations with a cultural or multicultural emphasis. For example, Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi, both African American Fraternities, were established at Cornell University in 1906 and Indiana University - Bloomington in 1911, respectively, the first Chinese fraternity, established at Cornell in 1916, and Sigma Iota, the first Hispanic fraternity, established at Louisiana State University in 1904. The latter later merged with other Hispanic fraternities and organizations around the nation to form Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest Latino fraternity in existence, in 1931. The Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity in Puerto Rico can also trace its roots back to Sigma Iota. There are now 20 Latino fraternities in the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations. A distinct set of black fraternities and sororities also exists, although black students are not barred from non-black organizations and there are black members of non-black organizations. Non African-American students are also not barred from predominately African American fraternities and sororities.

Organizations designed for particular class years do exist, but are usually categorized separately from other types of Greek letter organizations. While these were once common in older institutions in the Northeast, the only surviving underclass society is Theta Nu Epsilon, which is specifically for sophomores. Many senior class societies also survive, and they are often simply referred to as Secret Societies.