Conexión (San Antonio, TX)

September 27, 2007

The New Greeks 

Author: Marissa Villa; CONEXION

Edition: CONEXION

Section: Conexión

Page: 20A

Article Text:

Latino fraternities and sororities are expanding nationwide, and with that growth comes both benefits and challenges for the students involved.

Although Latino Greeks have been around since the early 1900s, only recently have they begun experiencing a tremendous growth across the country, according to "30 Years of Empowering Latino Students: The Latino Greek Movement," a study by Gina Garcia, a Retention and Assessment coordinator at Cal State Fullerton and Maricela Alvarado, an academic counselor for the Student Retention Services department at the same university.

At San Antonio universities, many Latino Greek chapters have been established since 2000, including Omega Delta Phi at St. Mary's University, which was established in 2005 and is still considered a colony. Members expect to be awarded chapter status next year.

The Latino fraternity Phi Iota Alpha, which became a chapter at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2001, was established in 1931, but it wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that Latino Greek organizations started booming. Other "mainstream" Greek organizations typically have histories that date back to the 1800s or early 1900s.

"It's not that they came later, it's just that we haven't had a large percentage of Latinos in four-year institutions," Alvarado said. "We had secret societies, they just didn't have the support."

Alvarado and Garcia conducted research on the effects Greek organizations have on Latino students since not much research had been conducted previously.

"I wanted to do it because I believe strongly that there are benefits" to being in a Greek organization, Garcia said. "There were some significant differences."

They found that Latinos who are involved in Greek organizations thrive socially and are more committed to their universities.

"They tend to be more connected to administrators so it makes sense that they are more committed to the institution as a whole," Garcia said.

Although there are benefits to being involved in these organizations, there are some challenges for the students involved.

Alvarado said many students in these organizations struggle with stereotypes that mainstream Greeks have, but some additionally struggle with the stereotype of not being Latino enough or being considered a sellout.

"The majority of Greeks have cultural traditions which are traditions that only members can know and practice," she said. "Greeks have those traditions that are secretive where other non-Greeks don't have secretive traditions. That plays a big role."

Additionally, Alvarado said some university administrators are not familiar with the needs of students involved in Latino Greek life.

"It's important for universities to be educated on the emergence and growth that Latino Greeks are having on campuses," Alvarado said. "Greek organizations are not going away. They are going to continue and continue and continue growing on their campus."

mvilla@conexionsa.com

AND A MOVEMENT IS BORN

Although most Latino Greek organizations were established during the 'Latino Greek Movement' in the 1970s and 1980s, secret societies known as 'hermandades' have been around since the 1800s. Here's a look at the history of Latino Greek organizations:

1898: Union Hispano Americana, the first Latin-American student association, was organized at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

1916: Pi Delta Phi Latino fraternity was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1919: Phi Lambda Alpha Latino fraternity was founded at the University of California at Berkeley.

1921: The three organizations formalized a merge and adopted the name Phi Lambda Alpha.

1931: Phi Lambda Alpha and Sigma Iota, another Latino fraternity, merged and officially established Phi Iota Alpha, which is still in existence today. UTSA has a chapter.

1975: Lambda Theta Phi, which recognizes itself as the first Latino fraternity, was established at Kean College in Union, New Jersey.

1970s to 1980s: Other Latino Greek fraternities and sororities began at universities throughout the country, including Kappa Delta Chi, which was founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University. The sorority now has chapters at St. Mary's University and UTSA.

1998: The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations was established. The organization has 23 members, and promotes interfraternal relations.

Late 1990s to present: Local universities start establishing Latino Greek organizations. One of the newest in San Antonio, Omega Delta Phi at St. Mary's was established in 2005 and is still considered a 'colony', which means they are one step away from becoming a chapter.

Sources: phiota.org, lambdathetanu.corg, omegadeltaphi.com, '30 Years of Empowering Latino Students: The Latino Greek Movement' by Gina Garcia and Maricela Alvarado