History

Delta Tau Chapter

Delta Tau was chartered at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois on November 7, 1965 as a chapter of the Upsilon conference. The founding affirmed members are Julie Lucken, Valerie Cooley, Marilyn Hill, Carol Rydeen, Janice Budd, Ann Schafer, Janer Carlson, Karen Moore, Christine Mathson, Karen Karman, Ruth Anderson, Catherine Simpson, Linda Thoman, Phyllis Nordstrom, Gloria Chell, Toni Rae Mitchell, Colleen Mae Wiese, and Joelene Baker.

National

Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity, is a Greek music fraternity for women. It is an organization whose purposes are to foster interest in music and to promote social contact among persons sharing an interest in music. It is a specialized Fraternity which confines its membership to persons interested in the single academic discipline -- music -- in accredited colleges and universities. It may initiate members of the general (social) college fraternities. Sigma Alpha Iota organizes its group life specifically to promote competence and achievement within its field.

Sigma Alpha Iota was founded June 12, 1903, at the University of Michigan School of Music, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Founders were seven upperclass and graduate students: Elizabeth Campbell, Francis Caspari, Minnie Davis Sherrill, Leila Farlin Laughlin, Nora Crane Hunt, Georgina Potts, and Mary Storrs Andersen, all deceased.

The founding is described in a brief History of Sigma Alpha Iota by Elizabeth Campbell in the Pan Pipes of April, 1910: ". . .when seven gifted young musicians solemnly pledged themselves to help each other with sisterly affection, stand for the highest possible musical scholarship, for nobility and uprightness of character, and for the maintainance of friendly and unselfish relations among women in the musical profession." Incorporation papers, under the laws of the State of Michigan, were signed December 1, 1904, and recorded December 15, 1904.

The first extension as a national fraternity came when requests from student groups brought the installation of Beta Chapter (Northern University, Evanston, IL; December, 1904), Gamma Chapter (American Conservatory, Chicago, IL; November, 1904), and Delta Chapter (Detriot Conservatory, Detriot, MI; March, 1907).

As extention continued, the first twenty-four chapters were named for the letters of the Greek alphabet in order. For the 25th to 48th chapters, "Sigma" was prefixed to the Greek alphabet in order. This was continued for the 49th to 72nd chapters, with "Alpha" prefixed to the Greek alphabet. These have been followed with "Iota," and then "Beta," "Gamma," "Delta," "Epsilon," "Zeta," "Eta," and "Theta," prefixed to the Greek alphabet.