Fraternities and sororities

While the terms "fraternity" and "sorority" may be used to describe any number of social and charitable organizations, including the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, International, and the Shriners, in the United States and Canada fraternities and sororities are most commonly known as social organizations of higher education students (though there are organizations like fraternities in other countries as well; for example, the German Student Corps). Fraternities are all-male or mixed-sex; the female-only equivalent is called a sorority, a word coined by Gamma Phi Beta in 1874. Consequently, there exist some all-female fraternities which were named before this, such as Kappa Alpha Theta, founded in 1870. Fraternities and sororities are also referred to as student corporations or academic corporations, or simply corporations.

Categories of fraternities and sororities

Fraternities and sororities may be categorized in numerous ways, and any organization may fall into multiple categories. These types of divisions include the following:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• purpose: general (social), professional, honor, or service
• size: local or "national" organization; ranges of size and geographic distribution among the "nationals"
• era: the epoch in which the organization was founded
• special cultural or religious interest
• membership: male-only, female-only, or coeducational; historically, other membership restrictions may have applied

For lists of major organizations, see

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Social fraternities and sororities
• Cultural interest fraternities and sororities
• Religious interest fraternities and sororities
• Service fraternities and sororities
• Honor societies
• Professional fraternities

Also see the list of Fictional fraternities and sororities, which are almost entirely of the social/general type.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~