Questions like these are never uncommon when it comes to the culture of a professional fraternity. Few take them seriously, feeling as though a fraternity must be made up of equal parts sweaty “frat bros” and rowdy house parties. I hate to burst your bubble, but yes, we are still a type of fraternity, and a good one at that. 

I made the decision to rush a professional fraternity the second semester of my freshman year, and ended up actually joining in my sophomore year. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “Work hard, play hard” or listened to the more popular rendition by Wiz Khalifa (Yes, we listen to Wiz also) then you already have a pretty good understanding of how we operate as an organization. 

First and foremost, we as a fraternity work hard. We keep our GPA's high, ranking top five almost every year among fraternities and sororities on campus. This isn’t particularly hard when everyone in the fraternity has similar majors and aspirations. You’ll have your upperclassmen brothers teaching the newest pledges which teachers to take and not to take, passing textbooks and notes to each other to lend a helping hand, and an overall network of bright individuals that won’t ever forget a “bro” in the long run. 

Secondly, we play hard even harder. We still take part in tailgates, fun themed events, and have our fair share of mixers with other Greek organizations. We know the in's and out's of drinking games, eating pizza at 2AM, and any other college classic you can think of. I love my fraternity for giving me this balance of fun and motivation to do well in school. And although some people may not consider us a real fraternity, or even mix us up with an honor society, I know that at the end of the day I have found what every Greek organization stands for: a brotherhood. With that in mind, I suggest to anyone that is wary about Greek life to look into this small niche of eclectic yet driven individuals that make up a professional fraternity; you may be pleasantly surprised.