Sigma Alpha Iota was founded on June 12, 1903 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  Seven women, Frances Caspari, Minnie Davis Sherrill, Leila Farlin Laughlin, Elizabeth Campbell, Nora Crane Hunt, Georgina Potts, and Mary Storrs Andersen decided to found a fraternity on a shared love of music.  The founding was described by Elizabeth Campbell as "when  seven enthusiastic girls solemnly pledged themselves to help each  other with sisterly affection, stand for the highest musical scholarship, for nobility and uprightness of character, and for the maintenance of friendly and unselfish relations among women in the musical profession."  The incorporation papers for Sigma Alpha Iota were signed on December 1, 1904 and recorded on December 15, 1904.

        SAI did not get its fraternity title until 1926.  Until then we were known as a sorority.  Because "sorority" is used by the Greek system to denote social organizations of women, SAI did not feel that we met those qualifications.  So, in 1926 we took the title of an international music fraternity and have kept that title to the present.  Fraternity stems from the abstract feminine Latin noun "fraternitas," and refers to the brotherhood of men and the sisterhood of women.  The term is currently used by all fraternal music organizations.

         Currently, SAI has over 90,000 initiated members with more than 300 college and alumnae chapters.  We foster interest in music and promote social contact between people with a passion for music.  But, SAI is more than names and dates, it is a feeling.  To know and understand the support of you sisters in good times and in bad is the gift that Sigma Alpha Iota has given us.

Courtesy of Alpha Lamda Chapter

Daughters of a great and singing nation,
Let your voices rise in dedication,
Music tells unspoken noble creeds;
Music beautifies the simplest deeds,
Sing we now to Sigma Alpha Iota.

Sing the greatness of the soul and spirit,
Sing the joy of peace and friendship's merit,
Music is a kind and truthful speech;
In a language out of mere word's reach,
Sing we now to Sigma Alpha Iota.

--Margaret Blackburn, Alpha Mu

To form chapters of music students and musicians who shall by their influence and their musical interest uphold the highest ideals of a musical education.

To raise the standards of productive musical work among the women students of colleges, conservatories and universities.

To further the development of music in America and promote a stronger bond of musical interest and understanding between foreign countries and America.

To give inspiration and material aid to its members.

To organize the cultural life of its members as a contributing factor to their educational program.

To cooperate wholeheartedly with the ideals and aims of the Alma Mater.

To adhere to the highest standards of American citizenship and democracy.