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Originally posted by ktsnake
SAI and probably Phi Mu Alpha are in a seperate class that many "traditional" greeks don't know about. Their members are music people and are recruited differently. I think it's fair to say they're not the same as IFC/NPC/NPHC type organizations.
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I'll pretty much agree with you, ktsnake, although I will note that many Phi Mu Alpha chapters are part of their campus IFCs and participate in all Greek activities at their campuses. From what I can tell, this seems to be more common at smaller colleges. I also know of Phi Mu Alpha chapters with
no music majors or minors in them.
And I think it goes a little deeper, too, because on many campuses and for a variety of reasons, the music department/music school is almost a world unto itself. Groups like Phi Mu Alpha and SAI were founded when that was even more the case (or when conservatories were indeed seperate) so as to provide students in that environment the fraternal experience. But this "academic isolation," if you will, can perpetuate both the "insular" recruitment and the interaction only with other music GLOs. (Aside from Phi Mu Alpha, SAI, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, there are Mu Phi Epsilon and Delta Omicron, as well as locals.)
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Many folks don't really know what SAI and organizations like it are so they probably consider them to be similar to an honorary or professional GLO that meets once a month and does a service project.
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You got that right. And that, in my opinion, is mainly our fault for not getting word about ourselves out. But one does sometimes run into folks who aren't giong to, shall we say, expand their views of reality to figure out how we fit in. You know, we have to write the memo for people to get the memo, but even after the memo goes out, a few people will refuse to read it.
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When you get down to it, the solution to the problem is all in your hands.
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Again, I agree. And while I can't say anything for any other group, I am glad to see that more and more Phi Mu Alpha chapters seem to be doing something about it.
And to tfj-1893: Yes, we have all those things, plus just about everything else one would associate with "traditional" general fraternities (except that most chapters do not have houses). The difference is that we have a "special interest," if you will, that is an integral part of our identity.