Professional, Academic, Service, Honorary, and Special Interest Fraternities and Sororities

Joining a Professional, Academic, Service, Honorary, and/or Special Interest Fraternities and Sororities

At WVU, we have a number of fraternal organizations that are focused on a particular academic major, professional field of interest, community service or other special interests. Each organization has its own membership requirements, which may include a GPA threshold, specific major requirement or service hour minimum. See below for a definition of each kind of organization:

Professional Fraternity or Sorority- Typically reserved for students wishing to enter a particular profession (such as Business Administration, Agriculture, Engineering, etc.). Professional fraternities and sororities may or may not be exclusive to students in a particular major. Some are co-educational and some are single-gender organizations.

Academic Fraternity or Sorority- These organizations are restrictive to a particular major. For example, if a student is majoring in Biology, they wish to join Beta Psi Omega which is focused on the study of Biology. Many students who are "pre-med" or "pre-law" join these kinds of organizations. These organizations are very similar to Professional Fraternities and Sororities.

Service Fraternity or Sorority- These fraternal organizations are focused on the principle of service and typically engage in community service throughout the semester. At WVU, we have a co-educational service fraternity and a female-only service sorority.

Honorary Organization- Honor Societies recognize high academic achievement in particular fields of study or other special interests. For example, if a student majoring in Political Science earns a particular GPA in his or her Junior or Senior year, then he or she may receive an invitation to join the Political Science Honor Society

Special-Interest Fraternities and Sororities- These organizations bring together students of a particular interest such as music, being in the marching band or being an Eagle Scout. These organizations tend not to be restrictive for membership by major.

If you are interested in learning more about these organizations, please fill out this interest form and we'll be in touch! You can also find which organizations and their corresponding academic/professional emphasis (if applicable) by visiting the Chapter Statuses & Community Scorecard section of the website.