Latino Greek Letter Organizations

I'm interested in learning more about the Latino Fraternities and Sororities. Could some of you that have joined share your experiences, as well as, chapter and national websites?

[ambición6]

I'd be glad to help. What exactly are you looking for?

Just wanted to know how your organization is received by other organizations at your school. I attend a Historically Black University and we don't have any other Greek Letter Organizations other than the Divine Nine here.

I just wanted to know about your experience with it since you've crossed.

[TheEpitome1920]

I was past president of my university's Multicultural Greek Council (we had 15 chapters) and we had the following LGLO's: Alpha Psi Lambda, Lambda Upsilon Lambda, Gamma Phi Omega, Sigma Lambda Beta, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Tau Phi Sigma. I personally enjoyed getting to learn about the history and traditions of each organization. However, there were times of tension between organizations because of calls, hand signs, etc. for example, Gamma Phi Omega's handsign is the same as Iota Phi Theta. And Sigma Lambda Gamma's call sounds ridiculously close to the Delta call. Btt my chapter sponsored programs with A-Psi and the Betas and they were great experiences!

[ambición6]

At my school, we are the only latino co-ed fraternity and there are 2 latino fraternities and 2 latina sororities. (as far as i remember) We sorta got along with the other latino orgs. We got along perfectly fine with the other non-latino greeks. but there was definitely tension with the latino orgs (mostly the sororities). we tried to be nice to everyone when we first started on campus but for some reason we couldn't play together.
My process was a blast. I pledged with a line of 7. 5 girls 2 guys and since we founded, we have grown to 24. My undergrad greek years were some of the best in my life and the fun doesnt end. I am still very active as an alum since my husband (also a member) is still in school so I still go to chapter meetings, rituals and all that good stuff.

Originally posted by ambición6
At my school, we are the only latino co-ed fraternity and there are 2 latino fraternities and 2 latina sororities. (as far as i remember) We sorta got along with the other latino orgs. We got along perfectly fine with the other non-latino greeks. but there was definitely tension with the latino orgs (mostly the sororities). we tried to be nice to everyone when we first started on campus but for some reason we couldn't play together.
My process was a blast. I pledged with a line of 7. 5 girls 2 guys and since we founded, we have grown to 24. My undergrad greek years were some of the best in my life and the fun doesnt end. I am still very active as an alum since my husband (also a member) is still in school so I still go to chapter meetings, rituals and all that good stuff.

Interesting. So when your undergrad chapter takes over a line they have one of the founders right there involved with their process.

That must be nice....to forever be a part of history.

[LatinaAlumna]

I am a founder of my chapter, and I've been a sister for over 7 years. The entire process from initial interest to active membership to alumna membership has been a great learning process for me, and has shaped who I am in many ways.

We had problems with some of the Latino student organizations on our campus for a while. Many of their members felt that we should not have started a Latina sorority on our campus because of past incidents with IFC and NPC chapters and members of the Chicano/Latino community - in particular, official fraternity songbooks that were exposed to have degrading lyrics about Mexican women, and a couple of "Mexican Fiestas" in which participants had to come in dirty old clothing and literally crawl under a fence in the mud to get in the party after someone sprayed down their backs with water hoses (you can probably figure out what that was supposed to symbolize).

Every now and again someone who is against LGLOs will stir things up and my actives will have to just take it in stride. We were the first LGLO on our campus, but now there are several, as well as some MCGLOs. It's nice to see that students have a variety of options to chose from if they want to go LGLO.

[deuika]

*Applauds*

Latino Greeks...

I was wondering...can a Latino Greek Organization be also MultiCultural?
I don't know if I'm saying that right. But I have some friends who are XYZ's, it's multicultural nationally, but all the members I have met are Latina, they do a lot of Latin activities as well, like most of their community service is done with Latin interest in mind, geesh I think I'm saying that wrong.
Anywhoodolini, Can they be in two councils? I know a couple of Greek orgs are.

[norcalchick]

I know out here in CA, Gamma Zeta Alpha, Nu Alpha Kappa, and Sigma Lambda Beta are big. Go to www.collegiatecircuit.com It's a Latino based collegiate website and there's a BUNCH of Greeks on there. In their profile's they may mention stuff about their orgs, or have links to thier orgs. It's a good place to find out about them. I have a bunch of friends in Latino based frats, they're cool peoples.

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally posted by deuika
*Applauds*

Latino Greeks...

I was wondering...can a Latino Greek Organization be also MultiCultural?
I don't know if I'm saying that right. But I have some friends who are XYZ's, it's multicultural nationally, but all the members I have met are Latina, they do a lot of Latin activities as well, like most of their community service is done with Latin interest in mind, geesh I think I'm saying that wrong.
Anywhoodolini, Can they be in two councils? I know a couple of Greek orgs are.

Hi Deuika!

There are some organizations who state that they are multicultural but nearly the entire membership is Latina/o. Not being a member of a MCGLO but rather LGLO, I'm not really sure why that is, but I've often pondered this question, myself. Personally, I don't think a MCGLO should also claim to be an LGLO (although I know of some whose members do on an individual basis when it suits them) or vice-versa. They are two totally different things. Regarding councils, if you are MCGLO you cannot be part of NALFO, but on some campuses they lump all non IFC-NPC or NPHC orgs. into the "Multicultural Greek Council."

[SIAsensacion]

Originally posted by laidbackfella
Just wanted to know how your organization is received by other organizations at your school. I attend a Historically Black University and we don't have any other Greek Letter Organizations other than the Divine Nine here.

I just wanted to know about your experience with it since you've crossed.

I am a member of Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc., a Latina-based sorority founded in 1990 in NY. I crossed at our Chi chapter, University of Maryland, College Park in Spring 99. I am currenty an active member of our Gamma Alpha chapter, the DC area graduate/professional chapter.

To answer your question, Laidbackfella, I have had a great experience since I crossed. When I crossed, we had the following Greeks on campus:

LGLOs:
Lambda Theta Alpha (Sorority)
Lambda Upsilon Lambda (Fraternity)

BGLOs:
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Kappa Alpha Psi
Delta Sigma Theta
Phi Beta Sigma
Zeta Phi Beta
Sigma Gamma Rho
Iota Phi Theta

My chapter was founded at UMCP in Spring of 1997, and overall we have been received quite well by other Greeks on campus from the beginning. We have held events and programs with the other LGLOs on campus (of course), and we have also held events with almost all the BGLOs as well, including community services, programs, parties, step/stroll shows, etc.
Other than programming, a lot of my chapter sisters (including myself) were friends with a lot of people in the BGLOs (both before and after we/they crossed), so it was pretty easy to have good relationships.

Overall, I think a lot of members of BGLOs are very accepting, welcoming, and friendly to LGLOs (in my experience). I think there is an element of friendly competition (or not so friendly if you are dealing with the wrong people) at times between LGLOs (which is natural), just like there is between BGLOs. However, the element of competition is not really there between a BGLO and an LGLO, I guess because we appeal to different people and reach out to different audiences. So I think the lack of "friendly competition" makes it easy to have really good relationships with each other.

I hope this helps, and if you have more questions please feel free to ask.

[preciousjeni]

Revisiting this thread after a while...

There seem to be a number of definitions of multicultural.

1) Organizations devoted primarily to one culture do have members of and welcome the inclusion of different cultures and sub-cultures (i.e. a Latina sorority with members from various Latin cultures as well as non-Latina women). So, these orgs are still Latina/Black/Asian, etc but they make a point to be inclusive and supportive of all.

-Example: Sigma Lambda Gamma

*Specific culture; multicultural membership

2) Organizations that began either as a group devoted to one culture or as a group that did not specify any specific culture (but were not specifically bringing attention to cultural issues.) Perhaps a more recent push to diversify has been incorporated and members are excited to bring in members with different backgrounds and experiences.

-Example: most NPC sororities

*Not originally intended to be specifically multicultural; current diverse membership

3) Organizations founded on multiculturalism. Specific chapters are often representative of cultures in the particular region. Programs are designed to bring education and sensitivity to the understanding of any number of cultures.

-Example: Theta Nu Xi, Zeta Sigma Chi

*Originally and intended to be multicultural


Thoughts? Are there more categories? How would an organization like Mu Sigma Upsilon** be best defined?

**MSU is the "first multicultural sorority in the nation" but they are bound to a Latino fraternity.

And, think about an organization like Phi Beta Sigma that is very diverse. PBS is certainly still considered a BGLO.

This all is why I really think we should be careful to say "historically" or "predominantly."

[rocketgirl]

preciousjeni,

I agree that people seem to have varying definitions of what a "multicultural" sorority is and is supposed to be. In my experience, I've seen organizations define themselves as multicultural when they fall under your definition (which I agree with) of a cultural organization with multicultural membership. Personally, I don't care what people define themselves as, as long as they are up front with pnms about who they are. I have met more than one person who thought a organization was multicultural in the way your sorority and mine define it, but they actually were culturally based with a multicultural membership.

Sororities like MSU are confusing because they are bound to a Latino frat and they use a lot of spanish language references. I don't understand how an organization where the name is written in Greek and Spanish and line names, nicknames, ect are all in Spanish, can be classified as multicultural, because to me, it doesn't seem to invite everyone, just people who speak Spanish. I think that the idea of culturally based, multicultural membership would apply to that organization..or maybe they are historically multicultural??

[preciousjeni]

I've done A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of research on multicultural sororities. I've tracked down people and info and talked directly to various national officers. Of the 40+ multicultural sororities, there are very few nationals.

I consider local to be one chapter, regional to be more than one chapter in an area, a state or a region, and national to be more than one chapter in more than one region.

Based on these definitions, here they are in order of founding:

Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: November 21, 1981
*Appears to be predominantly Latina

Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: 1988
*Appears to be predominantly Latina

Eta Omega Tau Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 24, 1990
*Predominantly Latina - confirmed

Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: March 3, 1991
*Multicultural - confirmed by rocketgirl

Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 20th, 1994
*Appears to be multicultural

Lambda Psi Delta Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: March 9, 1997
*This organization is rather cryptic, but the founders appear to be predominantly Latina.

Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: April 11, 1997
*Multicultural - confirmed

Delta Xi Nu Multicultural Sorority
Founding Date: October 7, 1997
*Appears to be multicultural

Delta Gamma Pi Multicultural Sorority
Founding Date: November 11, 1998
*Appears to be multicultural

Zeta Chi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
Founding Date: January 30, 2003
*Appears to be multicultural

Omicron Lambda Pi
Founding Date: April 13, 2003
*This organization is rather cryptic, but the organization has very early ties to a BGLO.

From all appearances, it would seem that of the national multicultural sororities, those that have very apparent MC foundations are (eldest to youngest):

1) Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1991)
2) Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1994)
3) Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (1997)
4) Delta Xi Nu Multicultural Sorority (1997)
5) Delta Gamma Pi Multicultural Sorority (1998)
6) Zeta Chi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. (2003)

What do you think, rocketgirl?

[flirt5721]

I'm not in a Latina sorority but I do know that Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina sorority that we have on campus. They are really nice girls and we have had a couple of socials with them.