Service fraternities and sororities

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Service fraternity may refer to any fraternal public service organization, such as the Kiwanis or Rotary International. In Canada and the United States, the term fraternal organization is more common as "fraternity" in everyday usage refers to fraternal student societies.

In the context of the North American student fraternity and sorority system, service fraternities (for all-male and coed organizations) and service sororities (for female-only organizations) comprise a type of organization whose primary purpose is community service. Although prospects are usually allowed to join only one service fraternity on a campus, they are not restricted from joining other types of fraternities.

They may be contrasted with professional fraternities, whose primary purpose is to bring together those with an interest in a field, and general or social fraternities, whose primary purpose is to develop friendships. Some general fraternities and their chapters, especially members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, emphasize the service aspects of their activities; the existence however of such a component does not alter their primary charter, nor thus their classification.