Agreed x10!

One of the reasons I am so proud to be a member of my sorority is that we have always made it VERY clear that we are a LATINA sorority. Non-Latinas are welcome to pursue membership, but must uphold our mission and purpose.


Mission

Our mission is to promote and foster Latina leaders through educational and professional development, relationship building, and community involvement. Our intent is to provide our members to exposure to resources for continued growth.

Purpose

The purpose of Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc. shall be to open the doors of opportunity to the Latinas of our community. Our primary focus is academic excellence and meeting the needs of Latina women in higher education. Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc. also promotes the advancement of Latinas through various campus activities and community services, and provides an environment for personal growth within the unit of Sisterhood. Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc.'s priorities, however, will be placed upon academic excellence and community service.

^^^^ Kudos!

Wonderful!!

Hold on to that mission and purpose. Don't let anyone or anything water it down in the name of integration.

Thanks, ladygreek and DSTChaos. :)

Maybe someone from MSU can elighten us because I also question the Latino fraternity ties they have, their Spanish motto, and their Spanish founding mothers. In fact, I also see that "multicultural sorority" is not in their official name (Lambda Tau Omega is guilty of this as well), although some local chapters tend to say it does.

Just to add my 4 cents...I believe that national recognition of multicultural status is EXTREMELY important. To me, a true multicultural organization must be deemed so by their national board and not have any affiliations (currently or in the past) to any specific cultures. Programming, membership, and all other efforts must focus on some aspect of multiculturalism, whether it be education of cultures, breaking stereotypes, etc.

I believe that Mu Sigma Upsilon is multicultural without being overbearingly so.

I know many members and I'm familiar with their programming. I think of a Spanish motto for a multicultural sorority is tantamount to a Latin or Greek motto for a more traditional sorority. Why use a foreign language at all? Perhaps the founders (or whoever coined the motto) wanted to look at sorority life with a different lens. Perhaps it could have been Swahili or Chinese instead. To me, it still would have worked because it is a multicultural organization.

I don't know, it just seems like folks are going another direction with this....

Well said. I've often felt the same way. However, knowing a little about the expansion of Latin Greeks I know that when many of them were founded, they were often considered multicultural by their campuses because they represented a portion of the community that had not previosuly been represented culturally in the Greek world. I guess at this point, it is confusing for aspirants who are looking for a true multicultural organization but find GLO's that focus on one cultural tradition.

I am not at all a member of MSU nor claim to be an expert on the matter, but from what I've heard... some of the confusion may arise because on their ORIGINAL founding, they were a Latina sorority. They later (from what I gather very quickly) changed to a multicultural organization. Why or how this transition occurred? I don't honestly know. Nevertheless, they are still the first multicultural sorority in the nation.

Keep in mind, I went to school at the "motherland" of MSU, LSU, OPC, and quite a few others... so the talk around here may not be so off base.

I don't want to make any assumptions about what you're saying, so can you elaborate for me?

I agree with you. Very well put.

An organization doesn't have to have "multicultural" in the title for it to be multicultural enough..... It just sounds like people are getting into a pissing match about which orgs are "multicultural enough." A while back I thought there was a concensus on what an MCGLO was -- a GLO that is multicultural by design and not just by circumstance.

MSU, for example has multicultural programming, traditions, and history -- and they happen to have a bond with a Latino fraternity. I don't see what the big deal is.

You don't have to put the MULTICULTURAL rubber stamp on every single thing you do to be legitimate. Alpha doesn't put a black stamp on everything and we're no less a black fraternity.

But your organization also doesn't "flip/flop" between calling itself an African American fraternity and a Multicultural fraternity. I think this is where the controversy lies within the LGLO and MCGLO community.

Perhaps some of the LGLOs and MCGLOs are experiencing an "identity crisis" as they grow (not saying this in a sarcastic way, that's just the best way I can describe it). It's really unfair to aspirants who are searching for the organization they wish to pursue, and unfair to members who joined under a focus that may be completely different now.

I understand.

I totally understand what you're saying here. And I can see it as an identity crisis, but I can also see some are trying to figure out their niche on their campuses. In the latter case, this issue seems to stem from individual chapters, rather than from the national governing body. I suspect that some orgs' national boards don't even know about the flip-flopping (one org in particular has 50+ chapters, so I'm sure they can't keep track of how each chapter presents itself at every given moment).

I don't have a problem with an org changing from being LGLO, AGLO, etc to being MCGLO (by design), but it should be done from a national scope. Like LatinaAlumna stated, it can be unfair to interests and members in the long run.

I see where you're coming from. With Mu Sigma Upsilon I think the intrigue/doubt/suspect,or whatever you want to call it, about their MC "by design" status comes from the "spanish" motto and formal ties with a Latino fraternity.

The founding mothers of Mu Sigma Upsilon decided on "Mujeres Siempre Unidas" because they wanted to stress unity among all women while sticking to the acronym "MSU".

And what's wrong with having 5 founding mothers of Latina descent? They happened to be multiculturally minded. Even though we have many Latina sisters in my organization, we have sisters from many other cultures around the world in my sorority as well.

As far as the ties to Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc. yes they are our brothers and yes the organization is Latino-based and not Latino exclusive. And as far as telling you how we have ties to that org. I can't tell you that b/c that was something that I learned during my process. ;)

Sooooooooooo not true @ all...we were NEVER a Latina sorority and we have been a MULTICULTURAL organization since our founding date of 11/21/1981. ;)

I don't want to know ties to LSU, nor did I ever expect to get a response telling me the ties between the two organizations as it is pretty well assumed that is information for members of the two organizations only. My response to Senusret was simply stating what I've heard from other people about the topic.

Question though, when you called LSU latino exclusive, what exactly do you mean?

Amen...I don't see the big deal with us being tied to a Latino-based fraternity. LSU is just as diverse as my organization. Hell, in my semester alone spring 2006 I had line brothers from just about every ethnicity: from Indian to Irish to Italian to Vietnamese and black as well...just to name a few.

Re: MSU's motto-that makes sense (that's pretty cool, actually).

And there's absolutely nothing wrong w/ having 5 Latina founders at all! Out of my eight sorority founders, 7 are Latina :) So I feel you on being "multiculturally minded".

whoops i forgot the NOT in there...major mistake :eek: I'm so worried about getting rid of this spam @ the end of my messages at work that i didn't check my responses...

Awww thank you :) yeah the motto in spanish is what MSU stands for :)

P.S Has got acquainted with the girl, http://cyberblady.com, how it to you? Only it is fair!

I totally see your point. In general however, there are organizations that may have started out "Latino-based" and now that they have a more multicultural membership, now claimed to be "multicultural based".

My ls's and I are as diverse as they come. I know sorors of every ethnicity. But their membership does not change the focus of Sigma's programming and community service. And I think that's where the discrepancy is, orgs are seen to be "flip flopping" on the core ideals of their organization.

Yeah I see what you are saying. I don't think that LSU (and I haven't seen this yet) is promoting themselves as a multicultural frat. but somehow they've been attracting men from many different cultures for a while now. Most of the programs that I've seen have something to do with the Latino culture.

My thought on it...
 

I personally think it’s great to see many organizations (Black, Latino and Multicultural) embracing different cultures, through their programming, community service and membership. And I feel that the main concern is not that we are accepting different members within these orgs, but how we are presenting it.
There are many non-African American members in many of the D9 organization… However, they don’t claim to be a Black-multicultural org…WHY? ---Because they will never change the identity or the vision that their founders set for their organization. This is the problem I find---What does Latino-multicultural mean? Multicultural means EVERYONE!---without emphasizing any culture, or shadowing the others.
For some of the “TRUE” multicultural organization, they were founded because there was a need to embrace everyone and a thirst for knowledge about different cultures, religions and backgrounds. This was at a time that there were not many others that were offering this type of sisterhood. The founders for “SOME” of our multicultural organizations didn’t just want to provide service and support to one ethnicity, but to EVERYONE.
The hard work our founders struggled to provide is diminished, when other Non-Multicultural orgs, want to “STAMP” the acceptance of diversity. My Founders knew there was a need and envisioned it…If the vision of your founders was not to embrace all cultures, then to ME…Your not multicultural. And if the majority of your members want to change the vision set out by your founders, then to ME…Your in the WRONG org.

I love this quote!!! *applause*

And it's because they're all freaking HOTTTT.

I'm sorry, but it's true.

lol...u so silly :p

Amanuet, you have summed it up perfectly. *thumbs up*

I really like this quote :cool:

I just get so confused when a lot of Latino organizations say that they are multicultural not by membership but by orientation :confused: Peep a couple of youtube videos by some NALFO orgs and some blatantly say "We are NOT a Latina sorority" or "We are the best multicultural sorority out there". Recruiting wise I had to raise my eyebrow and some methods that were used by some orgs, for example "We started out as a Latino organization but we decided to open it up to everyone", I was like...Latin is in your org name....how are you going to say that? I would think most folks' programming would revolve around Latinos as well..that's what they were founded as but some, due to wanting numbers do not do this at all.

I think it is okay to not always have a cultural event, e.g. if you want to have a self defense workshop or a public dinner i think that's cool, but some of your events should reflect what your org stands for. There is this fear that having an event with "Latino" in the name (and yes I have heard this before), would shrink the amount of probable students showing up to the event (especially if the population is very small), there are ways to advertise to the masses but still put across the point that it focuses on Latinos. We held a faith and culture event not too long ago, I really wanted non-Latinos and non-Muslims (as that was what we were looking at) to attend so we decided to advertise it as an event we can ALL relate to but we will be focusing on the Latino Muslim example...I'm glad to say plenty of non-Latinos and non-Muslims showed up :)

Case in point, it is understandable that folks want numbers especially where the Latino populations are very small, but please keep in mind what your org was founded on!

^Co-sign with your ENTIRE post. Some of the organizations have DROPPED the word "Latina/o" altogether if you check out their websites. Personally, I joined a LATINA sorority, and thankfully no one has ever suggested that we start calling ourselves anything else. I would be furious if my organization was now calling itself "multicultural with Latina founders" or any other phrasing that we're starting to see. Sometimes I wonder how older members of these orgs. feel.

I know this post is a little old, but I just got an email that this thread had some new responses, so I started reading (aka procrastinating lol)...

Anyway, I was just wondering if all five of Mu Sigma Upsilon's founding mothers are from SPAIN, as stated in this post??? I have no idea, maybe they are, but I thought that MSU's founders were Latina...maybe a member of MSU can clarify for us ;)

^^LOL!:D:D:D

I would speculate the use of "Spanish" in the above quote was appropriate at the time/in the place that it was originally written. I'm from the northeast and prior to going to college (1999/200) "Spanish" was commonly used as a descriptor by both Latinos and non Latinos. In fact, I never really heard/used the term Latino until I entered college. The use of the term Latino is still debated in some areas with some people preferring the use of Latino over Hispanic and vice versa (I'm currently searching for an article I read on this topic a while ago). I know people who still describe themselves as Spanish. To each their own I guess.

Well I think it is a little odd for a Latino/a organization to change their focus and go the multicultural route. It sort of makes the goals of the organization murky and unfocused. But being that many of these groups are relatively young in age (less than 30 years) perhaps they are just trying to "move with the times" or something. The college population in the late 70s and early 80s were dealing with different issues than college students deal with today. So I can understand why they would feel the need to present themselves differently. But overall, I think it's sad. Even though I am a member of a multicultural sorority, I recognize the need for more specific, ethnically-based groups. If it cuts down your recruitement pool; so what? In addition to the Latino/a organizations, I love the Native American organizations.. They seem to bring some really interesting concepts to the Greek community. And their recruitement pool is [I]really [I]small. So there's more to the equation than looking to appeal to as many people as possible. :)

I hate quoting old posts but this jumped out to me (the red lettering helped a bit). What makes your organization "more multicultural" than others? The fact that you say you are multicultural? All of our orgs are multicultural, some of us just don't feel the need to shout it from the mountaintops.

Besides having multicultural membership, what makes your organization "multicultural?"

Besides having multicultural membership, what makes your organization "multicultural?"

Frat,

First of all, I too believe in the 7. :D

Anyway.... Multicultural GLOs are organizations that intentionally promote multiculturalism and cultural pluralism through their mission, programs, and history.

There have been lively discussions about the topic prior to you getting to GC, but I can't recall their titles.

ZChi4Life provided an answer to this on page 10 when she stated:
"I can only speak for my org, but I'm sure other MCGLOs will agree, MC for us comes from membership AND the entire focus/purpose of our organization. Multiculturalism is encompassed in our programming, community service, etc, etc. We don't serve just one type of ethnic/racial community, we serve everyone."

I'm sure one of the reasons Alpha Phi Alpha isn't shouting it from the mountaintops is that it is not the purpose of your organization. While you have a multicultural membership you have always, and I suspect always will, serve the African American community.