Founded to prove that fraternity members could follow lofty goals such as investigating reports of persecution of Jewish students, assisting refugees in adapting to this country, learning from immigrants, and awarding scholarships for study abroad, the original chapter was founded in 1909 by eight members of the Jewish faith and others soon joined them. In 1953 the fraternity amended its charter to accept non-Jewish men who would respect the ideals and traditions of Sigma Alpha Mu. At Cornell, the second, or Beta chapter, was founded in 1911.