Sigma Alpha Iota is an international music fraternity who serves the community and aims to better the individuals with in it through music and sisterhood.

At the National level, Sigma Alpha Iota aims to support women participating in music. In our chapter, every fall semester we put on a Toys for Tots Benefit Concert featuring Iowa State students and faculty. In the spring semester, we have a Spring Benefit Concert for SAI Philanthropies Inc. We have a few smaller projects that we are working on as well. This semester we donated $400 to the ISU Symphony Orchestra to assist them in funding a composition. The Sigma Lambda ladies have begun collecting Box Tops for Education to donate to local Ames elementary schools in hopes to provide some money for their music programs as well. Another portion of our fundraising is through ushering concerts. With the addition of more SAI members and our brother fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha, rebooting in the near future less and less will be required of each individual SAI member.​

SAI is a wonderful experience! You gain lots of friends, network with professional musicians around the world, give back to the community, have wonderful people who will always support you, get involved in the music community at Iowa State and gain valuable life skills in the process.

​First get in contact with us by going to the Contact Us tab. We will add you to a list to keep you updated on the latest information involving the process. Second, attend one or more of the recruitment events. You can find our recruitment events posted in the Recruitment tab or in the News tab. We try to get a variety of days, times, and activities to accommodate everyone since we all have busy schedules. Third, come to our pledging ceremony. We only have one of these per semester since the membership process occurs over a longer period of time. After pledging you will meet with our Vice President of Membership and a current SAI member once a week to learn more about SAI and prepare for initiation and the national exam. The exam is nothing to be scared of! It’s easy and not stressful at all. Then at initiation you will be initiated as a full member.

You must have taken at least one music course at Iowa State, have a GPA of at least 2.50 or higher, and identify as female.  Other obligations are to complete MIT (member in training) requirements, pass the National exam, and complete the financial commitment.

There are three fees you need to be aware of.  The MIT fee is $50, which includes your SAI manual and songbook.  The largest fee you will have to pay is your initiation fee of $250, and this is only a one-time fee. A payment plan can be set with our Treasurer to break it down into smaller costs. Half of this fee can be fundraised, and it includes your pin, membership card, certificate of membership, SAI ritual book, and all fraternity publications.  The final fee is semester dues.  Our chapter's dues are $65 per year.

Time commitment depends on how many members we have involved and how much you want to be involved. Generally the more members we have the less of a time commitment it is and the better SAI will be, but usually it is only one hour a week.  Talk to your friends about joining and spread the word!

Sigma Alpha Iota forbids any type of hazing. We define hazing as any action which causes mental, physical, or emotional stress. If you feel uncomfortable in any situation, we are considered to be hazing you. We make sure to hold out this policy by making sure you aren't uncomfortable and want to engage in the activities and events we have.

If you can’t make it to the pledging date, you need to let the Vice President of Membership know ASAP! The ladies will go out of our way to get you pledged as soon as possible.  If you want to join, we will find a way!

After pledging, you will begin the Member-In-Training process. You will have weekly meetings with the Vice President of Membership and one of the other SAI members. Meetings with the VPM will prepare you for the National Exam, while meetings with another member can be SAI related or not. This is our way of building a strong bond with at least one member of the group so we can all learn more about each of you!  During this time, you will also get to learn the SAI chorale.