Loyola’s Multicultural Greek Council

Loyola’s Multicultural Greek Council

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It seems like every American knows about sororities and fraternities, and the not-always-positive image of them that exists because of movies like Neighbors and Legally Blonde. People see them as white, full of, well, the type of people whose appropriate adjectives I can’t type in my position as an employee for my school. Of course, most of it is untrue and illogical. There are always exceptions, but Greek life as a whole has been changing over the past twenty years for the better and better.

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So, you might be aware of those sort of stereotypical sororities and fraternities, but did you know there is also many, many Greek-letter organizations that are not historically white? Alpha Phi Alpha was created in 1906, the first black fraternity in America. From then on, Greek organizations have been created and oriented more multi-culturally. They’re all similar to Panhellenic groups, but with a few differences that span across them all.

Multicultural Greek Organizations have traditions like stepping, strolling, calls, and reveal shows of new members that all contribute to the community of multiculturalism and pride in the organization. The Try Guys of Buzzfeed recently learned Stepping with UC’s Alpha Phi Alpha Chapter, and you can check it out right here. They also don’t have a combined Recruitment Weekend like Panhellenic and IFC organizations do, but rather usually hold free events over a course of two weeks.

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Loyola has it’s own Multicultural Greek Council. None of them are exclusively for members of one race or ethnicity or another, but rather reflect why they were founded and seek to continue those values. And usually, they’re a lot smaller than the 150+ members in other sororities and fraternities.

We have Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc, as well as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. Delta Phi Lambda is the only Asian-interest sorority on campus, while Lambda Theta Alpha is predominantly Latina. Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta are both historically African-American, but that doesn’t mean that if you aren’t, you can’t join!

As for fraternities, we’ve got Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc., which is a co-ed Latinx fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi are historically African-American as well.

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I know what you’re thinking – that’s a lot of words and groups that mean nothing to you right now. Loyola has a policy that means you can’t join a sorority or fraternity your first semester freshman year, no matter which, so there’s no need to go comparing everyone on campus right now.

But this is my advice to you: keep your eyes open and your mind even more so. Even if you wouldn’t consider yourself ‘multi-cultural,’ you’re not excluded. You might just find a something new – whether it’s a whole new family, a changing experience, or a new favorite food.

(that’s something I love a lot about Loyola. All the groups are selling food 24/7. score for me, the churro-lover.)

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