Quote:
Originally posted by russellwarshay
Don't some Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia chapters also admit women?
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No, we're male only. A little more quick, abridged history:
For a while and for a variety of reasons we called ourselves a professional fraternity, even though we were founded as a social fraternity. The professional emphasis was particularly strong in the 1960's and 1970's. Then came Title IX, which cuts off federal funds to schools that house single-sex organizations; an exception is made for social fraternities and sororities but not for professional ones. While Phi Mu Alpha tried to obtain an exemption from Title IX, a handful of chapters were granted permission to initiate women if necessary to prevent the chapter from losing recognition by the sheltering institution. National permission was required before a chapter could initiate women. About 250 women were initiated over 6 or 7 years under this policy. In the early 80's, we received recognition from the federal Department of Education as a social fraternity, meaning we could legally remain single-sex. About that same time, the Fraternity, through its national assembly, voted overwhelmingly to return to our roots as a social fraternity (a decision that has taken time to fully implement), to remove all "professional" references from fraternity documents, and to return to all-male status. A few chapters disagreed with the later decision, acted in defiance, and were expelled from the Fraternity upon so doing. At least one started a local that retains some of our symbols and colors.
The 250 or so women who were initiated in the late '70's and early '80's by the relatively few chapters that did initiate women then are still considered Sinfonians, but no woman has been initiated since that time.
(Apologies for yet another digression from the topic.)