On Tuesday, Sept. 15 APSU hosted an interest meeting for students interested in becoming part of the multicultural greek societies, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Sigma Lambda Beta. Young men and women interested in joining the organizations attended separate meetings in the Morgan University Center to learn about the messages of each society from senior members and alumni and get more information on how to officially join in.
Both Sigma Lambda Gamma and Sigma Lambda Beta are Latino/Latina based organizations that have expanded to accept members of any ethnicity over time.
These societies will be APSU’s first multicultural societies.
“Many people have this perception of what Greek life is… I think that as more and more students from different backgrounds are looking for people they can relate to in the Greek community so as you look at your historically African American fraternities and sororities which have met the needs of African American college students you’re seeing a growth in Hispanic and Latino populations that are seeking the same thing,” said John Hofschneider, an alumni member of Sigma Lambda Beta who helped represent the fraternity at the interest meeting. “[These Greeks ] are a growing population of organizations that have a base culturally but are open to different members.”
Lexi Cabrera, Director of Education for the Sigma Lambda Gamma spoke over video conference with the interested women at APSU about the goals and principles of the organization.
The sorority’s purpose as stated in the meeting is “primarily one of promoting standards of excellence in morality, ethics, and education.”
They participate in community service by supporting and participating in fundraising events for multiple charities; currently they have a focus on Breast Cancer Awareness and the Federal TRIO program, which assists low-income, first-generation and disabled students through their educations.
According to their mission statement, the women of Sigma Lambda Gamma “strive to be the premiere organization committed to providing a mechanism of empowerment to all women.”
The Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity supports the Dream Act, which supports finding ways to get undocumented students a pathway towards citizenship. They encourage voter registration, and their mission is to “nurture and further a dynamic, values-based environment which utilizes our historically Latino-based fraternity as a catalyst to better serve the needs and wants of all people.”
Similar in purpose to Sigma Lambda Gamma, they promote excellence in morality, ethics and education, and alumni members have many chances to help out.
“Even when you’re done with college, there are still ways to be involved…” said Hofschneider.
