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Originally Posted by JSumter
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?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl
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.
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Originally Posted by AlphaFrog
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.
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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!
