Quote:
Originally posted by AOIIalum (in part)
No, I don't get tired of reading it. I like learning about your fraternity through your posts, MysticCat.
In my experiences, Sinfonia and Delta Omicron was quite exclusive to the schools of music on the campuses (campi?) I had knowledge of....
Mystic Cat--does Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia allow dual membership in Sinfonia and and any other social fraternal group? I admit, my knowledge is limited and perhaps it would be best for me to check your (inter)national website?
|
First, thanks Christin for at least acting like I'm not boring you.
Second, without a doubt, many Sinfonian chapters stick close to the schools/departments of music. While we have no national (we're not international) policy requiring that our members be music majors/minors or even take music classes -- just that they love music and believe in its power -- there is no question that strong bonds usually exist between chapter and school/department. In many ways, this dates back to our "officially professional" days -- old habits sometimes die hard. It also probably has something to do with the nature of music schools/departments in many places -- sort of world unto themselves in many respects.
Other chapters are not so, shall we say, insular. I know of chapters where the majority of members are
not music majors/minors.
Third, presently our national policy does allow dual membership in Sinfonia and another social fraternal. I know that at one point last year, our national HQ was trying to get data on how many collegiate brothers were members of another social GLO, but I don't know what they found out. I imagine that there may be a move to change this, and they were trying to find out how common it currently is. Certainly it will have to change if Sinfonia seeks membership in the NIC, which I keep hearing may be pursued.
Chapter policies may be more restrictive -- certainly they are for chapters that are in their campus's IFCs. My impression (no hard data on this), is that "dual membership" tends to be more common in chapters like you described -- those that stick close to the music school/department and act more "professional." In other chapters it is not, perhaps, as common. In most chapters I'm familiar with it would definately be frowned upon, because the brothers (1) would expect your primary loyalty to be to Sinfonia, and (2) would fear that your involvement in another GLO would compete with your involvement in Sinfonia. Just my take on it though.
Like I've said before, we're still trying to shift our understanding of our brotherhood back to what was intended by our founders, and away from the "professional" model we bore midway through our existence. It's taking time, but we're getting there!