After almost two years of hard work and dedication, the Kappa Pi Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota was installed on February 15, 2003.  The Installation Ceremony took place at Vanderbilt Univeristy’s Blair School of Music.  Those who participated in the ceremony were: Shelby MacFarlane, Yvonne Glass May, Jean Ferraraccio, Jessica Logan, Kathy Kinney, Amber Leslie, Ginny Britt, as well as the sisters from the Iota Phi Chapter, Zeta Omicron Chapter, and Delta Pi Chapter.

 

The few days leading up to the Installation were very busy, but at the same time, very exciting.  The day before the ceremony, the girls performed a musicale for Shelby, Ginny, Kathy, and Amber.  The next morning, the lobby of the Wright Music Building at Middle Tennessee State University was filled with excitement as the girls fathered before heading to Vanderbilt.  It was an eventful day with hugs and happy tears wiped away after the ceremony was over.  Officers were then installed and the newest members of SAI went through formal meeting procedures with Shelby and Jean.  The initiates were: Marissa Birkhead (Editor), Rebecca Fleming (VP Membership), Maria Hawn (Corresponding Secretary), Jessica Holmes, Emily Horner (Recording Secretary), Amber Hoolihan, Tessa Huff, Sarah Proffitt (Treasurer), Brianna Rogers, Michelle Rowlette (President), Erin Seay, Leigh Spencer, Jessica Stephens (Sergeant-At-Arms), Sarah Vann, and Meredith Walker (VP Ritual).

 

The road to becoming the first chapter at MTSU was paved with hard work and dedication, but was incredibly rewarding in the end.  Over the years, there had been several unsuccessful attempts at forming a chapter at MTSU.  Everything seemed to finally come together in the Fall of 2001, though, when Jessica Logan, a transfer student from the Delta Pi Chapter, wanted to share the joy of beauty that SAI had brought to her life with her new found friends at MTSU.

The original group was comprised of the following girls: Marissa Birkhead, Jessica Holmes, Emily Horner, Sarah Proffitt, Brianna Rogers, Michelle Rowlette, Erin Seay, Leigh Spencer, Jessica Stephens, Sarah Vann, Kathy Kinney, Jessica Logan, Amanda Talent, Charis Elliot, Shannon Williams, Courtney Bates, Holly Tittle, and Helly Durcholz.

The girls began meeting on a weekly basis and lovingly became known as Women for Music.  The group received much support and encouragement within the School of Music, especially from Todd Waldecker, Terry Jolly, the MTSU Phi Mu Alpha Chapter, Angela Tipps, and Dawn Tittle, just to name a few.  Jessica Logan gave invaluable guidance and unfailing support to the group.

 

Women for Music participated in numerous activities during its existence.  The ladies cleaned the practice rooms, painted faculty offices, volunteered at a local elementary school’s Fall festical, held a bake sale that benefitted the MTSU School of Music, sponsored a canned food frive to help Second Harvest Food Bank in which two other organizations participated (Delta Omicron and Phi Mu Alpha), and worked several Scholarship Days.  They also participated in fundraisers such as car washes, yard sales, and numerous bake sales.  Moreover, the girls also had monthly social nights in which they made shirts and “sisterhood” videos. They participated in other social activities including a joint scavenger hunt and picnic with Delta Omicron and Phi Mu Alpha.  The group had three great Member In Training “moms”: Ginny Britt, Kathy Kinney, and Amber Leslie whom the girls could not have gone without.  Each lady so graciously guided them through the short and exciting pledge period.

 

During this period of our chapter’s infancy many great things were accomplished.  A legacy was created, memories were made, friendships were formed and intensified, and all of this was done in the name of music and in the spirit of sisterhood and Sigma Alpha Iota.

 

Credit: Caitlin & Megan McKeighen, Elizabeth Warren