Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority, Inc. () or Señoritas Latinas en Acción Sorority, Inc. is an American Latina based Greek-lettered

sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

of college-educated women. Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority, Inc. was founded in the summer of 1992, at

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

, by Angeles Gonzalez and the help of five other young women. Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority, Inc. is a Latina-founded organization and is open to all women regardless of race, nationality, or religion. The sorority is currently present in 12 campuses in Texas and Oklahoma. Though Latina-based, Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority, Inc. is a non-discriminatory organization. The sorority is a former member of the

National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) is an umbrella council for seventeen American Latino fraternities and sororities. It was established in 1998. The purpose of NALFO is to promote and foster positive interfraternal ...

(NALFO) and was the third former sororal member to have left the umbrella organization.

History

Establishment

Sigma Lambda Alpha Sorority, Inc., otherwise known as Señoritas Latinas en Acción, was founded in the summer of 1992 by Angeles Gonzalez. As a student at Texas Woman's University, Gonzalez read an article in a Hispanic magazine about a national Hispanic sorority called Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc. Upon reading this article, she realized that Latina Greek organizations were a cultural medium at universities. She became interested in forming an organization that would serve as a cultural outlet on her campus. Gonzalez wrote to the sorority for more information regarding their organization and Latino Greeks in general. She promptly received a response and was advised to begin an interest group, elect officers, and choose an organizational name to start the sorority process. With the assistance of Director Linda Weber in the Office of Student Development and Robin Zaruba, Assistant Director of Activities and Orientation, Angeles Gonzalez began the process of establishing a Latina sorority at Texas Woman's University. In the fall of 1992, Gonzalez began recruiting girls to be the “founding mothers” of the sorority and attend the first meeting. In this meeting, they discussed the goals of the organization, and elected officers and chose their organizational/interest group name. Sigma Lambda Alpha/Señoritas Latinas en Acción was founded on October 20, 1992, on the campus of Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. With the interest group of Sigma Lambda Alpha established, excitement grew with the thought of having Latina representation at TWU, however, the sorority in Pennsylvania decided against beginning a chapter in Texas, because of the distance between the two states. Determined to have Hispanic representation at TWU, the founding mothers did not let this hinder the establishment of an organization. They chose to launch a new sorority based on their original group goals and combined beliefs. They elected to carry on the name of Sigma Lambda Alpha/Señoritas Latinas en Acción Inc. and created a sisterhood based on cultural awareness, community service, leadership, and academic achievement. The first pledge class of the Alpha chapter was inducted in the spring of 1993.

21st century

In 2011, Sigma Lambda Alpha became the youngest member organization of the

(NALFO). In 2015 however, after only four years within the umbrella organization and for reasons unknown to the public, it would become the fifth former member to leave NALFO. Sigma Lambda Alpha's mission "is to promote the importance of community service involvement and academic achievement as well as to educate and excel the stance of Latino cultures in this diversely enriched society." The sorority would have its first chapter outside of the state of Texas chartered in 2016 with the establishment of the ''Theta chapter'' at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. Its national headquarters is located in Denton, Texas.

Symbols

The motto of Sigma Lambda Alpha is "Latinas Helping Others". The sorority's principles or pillars are Community service, Academic achievement, Cultural awareness, and Sisterhood. Its colors are burgundy, forest green, and gold. Its flower is the red rose. Its jewel is the green topaz. Its mascot is the bald eagle.

Activities

The philanthropy of the sorority is the

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has i ...

. The mentoring program of Sigma Lambda Alpha is the ROSAS program.

Chapters

Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are indicated in ''italics''.

References

External Links

* {{National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations Student societies in the United States Student organizations established in 1992 Texas Woman's University Latino fraternities and sororities 1992 establishments in Texas Former members of National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations Women's organizations based in the United States Fraternities and sororities in the United States Sororities