[MysticCat]

Hey vna8056. I don't know how I missed your message until today, but somehow I did.

Phi Mu Alpha is a social fraternity, although admittedly the situation can be a little confusing. We were founded as a social fraternity, but over the course of the 20th Century we moved toward being a professional fraternity, so that by the mid-20th Century we were calling ourselves "The Professional Fraternity for Men in Music."

In the 1980s, for a variety of reasons including Title IX and the desire to remain single-sex, we decided on a national level to return to our roots as a social fraternity, albeit a special interest social fraternity rather than a general social fraternity. Since then, the Fraternity has moved in a number of ways towards re-establishing the Fraternity as a social fraternity. Admittedly, some chapters still act more like a professional fraternity, but nationally we are clear that we are a social fraternity.

Adding a little to some confusion may be that we are not a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (the association for many social fraternities). Instead, we have maintained our membership in the Professional Fraternities Association, which, despite its name, is open not only to professional GLOs but also to GLOs marked by a common interest. Many of our chapters are members of their campus's Interfraternity Councils, however.

Hope this helps.