Two Quick Questions
 

Here is the deal I am having at the moment. I am a freshman starting my second semester here, and I was wondering if it is possible to join two fraternities. (They aren't both social) I play a few different instruments and play in ensembles, so I was planning on being in Phi Mu Aplha, however I was considering pledging one of the social fraternities next year. From my understanding PMA is an academic fraternity mainly. They don't have a house, and mainly just do some service projects and such. So my question is, is it possible for me to join PMA and a social fraternity at the beginning of my sophomore year?

Also, is it looked on negatively when you try to join a fraternity as a sophomore?

YES.

It'd be hard to accurately and quickly answer your second question because it would depend on how your campus culture is like.

I think it's important to keep in mind your reasons for wanting to join each of them. If you want to do service projects, you can join either one or NONE of them and still reach that goal.

It's possible to join both, especially if your chapter of PMA isn't particularly social, but I would not pledge both at the same time, unless you're Superman.

I was about 80% sure that Sinfonian by-laws preclude joining another IFC fraternity. Sinfonia IS a social fraternity, even if some campuses treat it as academic.

I guess it was just a by-law they had on my campus, that they couldn't join other social GLOS.

You need to consider your time management skills when deciding to join one let alone two groups. Each group will probably have mandatory meetings, community service, etc that you will be expected to attend. I don't think they would look too kindly on you missing there events for another group's events.

I think that you should join one group first and see how much of your time you are expected to give to the group, than based on that, decide if you want to add to that schedule. Keep in mind that you are in college for an education first and foremost, and you don't want to take on too many time obligations that could hinder your academic progress.

I was a member of Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre fraternity, in addition to my sorority in college, which wasn't a problem because APO was treated more as an honor society than a social organization at my school. However, I know theatre majors from other campuses who could never have done this because their casts of APO were much more social.

I would assume that it would be similar with PMA... if your campus treats it as a social organization, you aren't going to have a lot of time for another fraternity, but if it is more of an honorary organization with less of a time commitment, then you might be able to do both.

Phi Mu Alpha is indeed a social fraternity. (And some chapters do have houses or non-residential lodges.) Phi Mu Alpha is not a member of the NIC, but it is a member of IFC on some campuses. In those cases where it is an IFC member, there may well be a local regulation that prohibits double membership in IFC orgs. Otherwise, the only current national reg is that "no man may be considered [for membership] who is a member of any other secret national fraternal society in music, nor can he join any such organization so long as he remains a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia." I believe that there has been a fair amount of discussion about the double membership issue off and on for years, with some strong feelings on both sides, but the reg just quoted is the current position on double memberships.

That said, the real question should be addressed the local Sinfonia chapter. Just as some chapters are "more social," while others still remind one more of the "professional" fraternity days (it's a long, historical story I won't go into right now -- I've played that record too many times on GC), some chapter are more accepting of double memberships than others. In some chapters, it's no big deal; in other chapters, it's a very big deal. We had one double member in our chapter -- the chapter as a whole did not take to it kindly. So, I would suggest you feel out how the chapter at your school feels about double memberships and then make a decision from there.

Good luck!