LSU’s newest Greek council has created a space for students of different ethnicities and heritages to grow in community and service to establish a legacy that continues for generations.
Founded in 2023, LSU’s Multicultural Greek Council advocates for its members and works to cultivate relationships between the two organizations it advises, Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity and Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority.
“Greek life provided a safe haven for us to really exist and grow as people, and then as more orgs come on campus it’s been a really beautiful place for all of us to interact with each other and have that cultural exchange,” said Giancarlo Lara, a founding member of Sigma Lambda Beta.
Kenya Soto, a founding member of LTA and a senior studying anthropology and Spanish, said the MGC has created a space for multicultural Greek organizations that wasn’t there before. Previously, Soto explained, either the Panhellenic or National Panhellenic councils oversaw the multicultural Greek organizations.
“So that also shows there wasn’t a space for this,” Soto said. “They had to just kind of put them where they could fit.”
Just over 10% of LSU students are of Latin or Hispanic heritage. This can create obstacles for Latin or Hispanic students trying to find a community at LSU. Council members hope to expand the council to create a culture of unity and acceptance for these students.
“There was always kind of a lacking space in terms of places where Latino students kind of feel like they fit in and could really find their group of people,” said Lara, a junior studying biological engineering.
The recent dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion practices will impact the MGC. David Guzman, a founding member of Sigma Lambda Beta, explained the changes will require the international fraternity to find new ways to advertise itself.
“We can’t market ourselves using specific things that identify us,” said Guzman, a junior mechanical engineering student. “We have to look for ways to market ourselves again. We are a multicultural, Latino-based fraternity, and we use that to bring people in, so it would be an issue of just being able to represent ourselves.”
