Latino Greeks can literally not afford to be fighting

[TotallyWicked]

I am writing this after much observation of my fellow latino greeks dogging on each other. According to the latest stats, there are only about a million Latinos in college, a rather small number especially in comparison to our population. Latino GLO's are overall a very new phenomena (the first being in 1931 Phi Iota Alpha, but not springboarding until Lambda Theta Phi and Lambda Theta Alpha came about in 1975).

Since 1975, there have been over 70 Latin Greek Orgs established, alot of orgs for a very small pool.

I have a feeling that some latino greeks are comparing themselves to the NPHC orgs, but the crucial difference is that they have alot more undergrads, alumni, history, and a larger pool. Who knows if in 10 years more than half of the 70+ orgs dissolve and join with another organization.

Point is, we all share the same goals, and i have seen and heard of Latin orgs trying to get other orgs off campus if not get their members EXPELLED....SERIOUSLY how is that abiding by our values. I want to hear opinions from others....

LGLO's don't be in such a rush to grow up, I suggest we take our time to perfect what we already have so we can better what we will have in the future.

[zchi2]

Do you know how many latino fraternities are currently operating? Is 70 the present number?

[TotallyWicked]

the best bet would be to visit www.latinogreeks.com and see the listings though I doubt ALL of them are active. The main orgs I know of are either very large or heavy on the East Coast, for some reason West Coast LGLO's don't get heard of much in comparison to East Coast Greeks, why I don't know

[MissCaramella]

Originally Posted by zchi2

Do you know how many latino fraternities are currently operating? Is 70 the present number?

I don't know a lot about LGLOs, but there are a lot of them. There are 47 organizations listed on LatinoGreeks.com, but there are always people founding new locals.


Totally Wicked brings up an interesting point: With so many groups out there, do you see any orgs being absorbed (for a lack of a better word) by larger groups?

[zchi2]

Originally Posted by MissCaramella

Totally Wicked brings up an interesting point: With so many groups out there, do you see any orgs being absorbed (for a lack of a better word) by larger groups?

I wonder the same thing. Since more and more universities are now requiring insurance that most local or small greek organizations cannot afford, what are those organizations going to do? Will organizations try to merge with larger organizations or would people rather let their organizations die?

[SxyLambdaLady6]

misscaramella, what org are u in? i used to go to UCF

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by TotallyWicked

The main orgs I know of are either very large or heavy on the East Coast, for some reason West Coast LGLO's don't get heard of much in comparison to East Coast Greeks, why I don't know

I think it depends on where one is located.

I'm on the west coast, and I didn't start hearing about the east-coast founded organizations until there was more of a presence on the internet.

With so many groups out there, do you see any orgs being absorbed (for a lack of a better word) by larger groups?

I don't see this happening at all, for one reason: PRIDE. I think many LGLO members would rather see their organization just die out instead of taking on the letters, traditions, etc. of some other group.

[Serenity]

Originally Posted by LatinaAlumna

I don't see this happening at all, for one reason: PRIDE. I think many LGLO members would rather see their organization just die out instead of taking on the letters, traditions, etc. of some other group.

True...

[Rumi_Sonqo98]

wow

[MissCaramella]

Originally Posted by LatinaAlumna

I don't see this happening at all, for one reason: PRIDE. I think many LGLO members would rather see their organization just die out instead of taking on the letters, traditions, etc. of some other group.

This is very true.
The only reason I asked is because I see that some organizations are huge on the East Coast, whereas others are mainly on the West Coast. I just thought it was interesting

[LatinaAlumna]

Originally Posted by Rumi_Sonqo98

I agree.. We must not look at the differences. I am in local Afro-Latino fraternity and i have been asking every member from every org the same question. Why are we fighting against each other? Why are we trying to get rid of each other? The only answer i got is it's competition. I understand that we are in different orgs but our goals are still the same.

I just wanted to respond to this. We (all of our organizations) need to do a better job of educating our members, particularly at the undergraduate level, on how to have pride in your own organization without putting others down. I often wish undergraduate members of the various LGLOs could see what it's like to be on the alumni side of things. I've met some outstanding individuals from other LGLOs in my professional life, and our LGLO membership is a common bond that we share. I'm always thrilled when I find out that an associate is a member of a fellow Latino fraternity or sorority.

[CULater]

i agree that we do need to work together rather than dividing ourselves. It's very hard, though, because I think a lot of the fighting/competition stems from the fact that there is a such a small pool for any to recruit from, and most chapters have very low # members. When you co-sponsor an event with another organization that is recruiting from the same pool as you, it's hard for potentials to be able to differentiate if a lot of what you do involves working with another org. We don't want to share our recruitment strategies, and whatnot, because we don't want to lose that "advantage."

You see IFC and NPC orgs with 50+ members, and each year, their recruitment strategies, rush, allows for them to rarely worry about becoming defunct. That is not true with many non-IFC/NPC orgs, who don't intake on a normal basis, and many of us do not rush.

Another reason why we may not be getting along is due to the fact that working with another organization can be a huge risk. I've seen orgs trying to co-sponsor an event or party with another org, but somewhere along the way someone doesn't fulfill their aspect of responsibilities, and it leaves a sour note for future collaboration.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by CULater

i agree that we do need to work together rather than dividing ourselves. It's very hard, though, because I think a lot of the fighting/competition stems from the fact that there is a such a small pool for any to recruit from, and most chapters have very low # members. When you co-sponsor an event with another organization that is recruiting from the same pool as you, it's hard for potentials to be able to differentiate if a lot of what you do involves working with another org. We don't want to share our recruitment strategies, and whatnot, because we don't want to lose that "advantage."

Does your school hold a "meet the greeks" type function? We're required to have an "all MGC" recruitment schedule that interests can attend. On more than one occasion, I've directed interests to the Betas or Lambdas because they wouldn't be a good fit at my chapter. They've done the same for us. This helps alleviate some of the tension between the orgs.

Originally Posted by CULater

Another reason why we may not be getting along is due to the fact that working with another organization can be a huge risk. I've seen orgs trying to co-sponsor an event or party with another org, but somewhere along the way someone doesn't fulfill their aspect of responsibilities, and it leaves a sour note for future collaboration.

A few years ago, we hosted a joint-social with DU and the Lambdas. We outlined all of the responsibilities in a contract and had representatives from each of the chapters keep their guys in check. That worked out well for us.

You may also try attending functions that have already been set, as opposed to actually hosting/creating new events. Whenever one of our orgs has a social or service type event, we make it a point to send out some representatives to show support.

[knight_shadow]

Bumping because this blog reminded me of this thread. It's sad that the "Greek Hate" blog received 124 comments while the "Greek Love" one received 16. Some of these comments show us why our (LGLO) community is the way it is now.

Greek Hate:
http://greekstand.com/blog/2009/02/g...last/#comments

Greek Love:
http://greekstand.com/blog/2009/02/greek-love/#comments

[LatinaAlumna]

I saw the "hate" blog and I was just...WOW. People really, really need to grow up.