There are 236 female Sinfonians, all alumnae. This results from Phi Mu Alpha's history as a social, then a professional, and then a social fraternity. The short version of the story is like this.
In the 1970's, Phi Mu Alpha called itself a professional fraternity. As a result of Title IX (passed in 1972, and which prohibited, upon risk of losing federal funds, educational institutions from sheltering single-sex organizations, except for social groups like social GLO's), many chapters of Phi Mu Alpha found themselves under pressure from their sheltering instututions to admit women or lose affiliation. At the 1976 National Assembly, after a great deal of passionate debate, the Fraternity amended its governing documents to allow individual chapters to amend their by-laws so as to initiate women, while at the same time affirming that Phi Mu Alpha would continue to operate as a body oriented toward a male membership.
The three main music sororities took different routes. Mu Phi Epsilon and Delta Omicron decided to go co-ed nationally. Sigma Alpha Iota, on the other hand, appealed the federal Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare's determination that it had to go co-ed, and ultimately received from HEW an exemption from Title IX.
In 1977, Phi Mu Alpha declared a moratorium on further female initiations until the Fraternity could seek an exemption similar to the one granted
SAI. For a variety of reasons, that exemption was not received until 1983. At the next National Assembly in 1985, the Fraternity voted both to officially return to single-sex status and to officially return the Fraternity to status as a social fraternity.
Between 19776 and 1985, 22 chapters -- usually chapters in true danger of being kicked-off their campuses -- initiated 236 women. All of these women were "legally" initiated and are considered true Sinfonian alums.
After 1985, one chapter sought exemption from the Fraternity's single-sex status because of state laws (South Dakota); by the time the situation could be worked out (an exemption from the co-ed requirement under state law), the conflict had already done in the chapter. One other chapter (and all of its active members) were expelled from the Fraternity in 1986 when the chapter initiated women after explicitly being told it could not do so.
Okay, that was a longer version of the story than I intended.
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