A Brief History of International Latin American Student Fraternities

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Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 2015, Vol. 14(1) 69–81 A Brief History of © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: International Latin American sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1538192714548928 Student Fraternities: A jhh.sagepub.com Movement That Lasted 86 Years (1889-1975)

Oliver Fajardo1

Abstract An international Latin American student fraternity movement preceded the current Latino Greeks that are seen on college campuses today. This document provides new information that has not been published. The movement lasted 86 years and primarily served wealthy international Latin American students who came to the United States to study and, once graduated, went back to their home countries. This was a different movement that became defunct before the current Latino Greeks emerged in 1975.

Resumen Un movimiento de fraternidades fundadas por estudiantes internacionales latino americanos precedió las fraternidades Latinas que se ve en los campos universitarios de hoy. Este documento provee nueva información que no se ha publicado. El movimiento duró 86 años y sirvió primordialmente a estudiantes internacionales latino americanos afluentes que vinieron a los Estados Unidos de América a estudiar y que una vez graduados regresaron a sus países nativos. Este es un movimiento diferente al actual griego latino que empezó en 1975.

Keywords Latino, history, fraternity, Greeks, international, students, Latin American, colleges, universities

Non-resident alien (international) Latin American students established fraternities in the United States more than 100 years ago. These organizations primarily catered to

1McDaniel College, Westminster, MD, USA Corresponding Author: Oliver Fajardo, McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157, USA. Email: [email protected] 70 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1) wealthy international students from Spain, the Caribbean, and Central and South America who studied in this country and would return home once they completed their education. Published articles have attempted to combine the history of fraternities and student groups created by international students with those currently active. The Latino Greek movement that is active on college campuses today had its origin in New Jersey in the mid-1970s. The founding of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., on December 1, 1975, as the first Latino fraternity in the nation to serve the Latino community in the United States signaled the beginning of the current Latino Greek Movement (Heidenreich, 2006; Peña, 2001). Although both movements served Latin American students, the students came from different backgrounds and socio-economic statuses, and the ideology behind the creation of the organizations differed as well. The international Latin American student fraternities wanted to unite their countries both economically and politically so they could be as strong as the United States (as cited in Alva Castro, 1988). This document will describe the reasons why the international Latin American student fraternities emerged. By doing so, the document will show that these groups served different interests and cannot be considered as having had the same purpose when speaking about the current Latino Greek Movement in the United States. The scope of this document is limited to fraternities established by international students in colleges and universities in the United States and does not address the genesis and history of fraternities that were established in colleges and universities on the Island of Puerto Rico.

International Latin American Students Begin to Attend Colleges in the United States Throughout the 19th century, international Latin American students traveled in small numbers to the United States for an education. This changed around 1903, when an increase of students began enrolling in agricultural and mechanical colleges and universities. Better infrastructures (railroads, waterworks, highways, dams, canals) in Latin American countries allowed for greater commerce and economic growth (Bevis & Lucas, 2007). Economic growth demanded more skilled workers such as engineers, specialists, and educators. Another factor to the increase was that the English language began to replace traditional French in the Latin American public school curriculum (Bevis & Lucas, 2007). Universities in the United States took out advertisements in Latin American publications, while others advertised directly to students in Latin America. An example of this is Louisiana State University (LSU). LSU published pamphlets in Spanish with information regarding their world renown agricultural, sugar, and engineering pro- grams of the period (Westbrook, 1905). Westbrook (1905) writes in a LSU publication, “[LSU] Ofrece ventajas superiores á los jóvenes de la América Latina; y en su última sesión ha tenido veinte estudiantes de Cuba, diez de México, tres del Perú, dos de Puerto Rico y dos de Costa Rica” (p. 1). Once here, these students began to congregate and form student groups. Fajardo 71

The Establishment of Student Associations—1887 The first known Latin American student association in the United States was the Club Hispano Americano established at Lehigh University in 1887 (The Epitome, 1890). The Club Hispano Americano was a society of international Latin American students who wanted to create a network of international students attending colleges in the United States. Following the Lehigh University group, a second Club Hispano Americano was established by students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, during the 1889 academic year (The Hispano-Americano Club, 1890; The Transit, 1891). A description in the student newspaper reads as follows regarding the establishment of the new club at RPI: “Through the efforts of Mr. A. Posada, Jr., the Spanish students at the Institute have organized the Hispano Americano Club” (The Hispano-Americano Club, 1890, p. 80). International Latin American students were also traveling and attending school in the southern part of the United States. In the first half of the 20th century, New Orleans was a haven for international Latin American students (“Orleans Draws Latin Americans Seeking Culture,” 1931). The trade relations between the United States and Latin American countries helped with the increase as well as New Orleans’ geographical location. In addition to the success the United States had in the Spanish American War, the opening of the Panama Canal also made New Orleans an important port for Latin America. According to an article in the Times Picayune, Latin America saw New Orleans as a “Paris . . . the mecca of learning and opportunity for its younger generations” (“Orleans Draws Latin Americans Seeking Culture,” 1931, p. 18). In the south, La Colonia Hispano-Americana, later named Sociedad Hispano- Americana, was founded at LSU in 1904 (Gumbo, 1906). All the members of La Colonia Hispano-Americana were international students from Latin America, with the exception of two students from the island of Puerto Rico (Gumbo, 1906). On the same campus, a local fraternity was created by international Latin American students called the L.I.U.N. Fraternity. L.I.U.N. Fraternity was established on the campus of LSU on February 5, 1909, and would expand to other campuses soon thereafter (Gumbo, 1909).

The Philosophy Behind the Establishment of Groups The ideology of the groups that were created in the early 20th century was the political and economic unity of Latin American countries (as cited in Alva Castro, 1988). The international Latin American students wanted their nations to prosper as much as the United States. By the end of the Spanish American War, the United States had been propelled as an international power, finally ousting Spain’s foothold on the western hemisphere (Carroll & Baxter, 2007). The danger of European colonization still existed along with a new threat in the eyes of the international Latin American students. The new threat came from the United States and its Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine stated that efforts by European powers to colonize land or interfere with states in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as acts of aggression 72 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1) requiring the intervention of the United States (Herring, 2008). Latin American reac- tion to the doctrine was mixed. Many saw it as a means for United States’ expansion and to look over its own interest (Coerver & Hall, 1999). Others mistakenly saw it as a possible system of alliances between the nations of the hemisphere (Coerver & Hall, 1999). Simon Bolivar, an admirer of the United States, stated that the neighbor to the north “seemed destined by providence to plague America with torments in the name of freedom” (Herring, 2008, p. 161). Despite this uneasiness, international Latin American students continued to travel to the United States for an education and continued to spread their message of unifying their countries to other campuses. A description of the Latin American student group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reads, “With the forty odd students that South and Central America send to Technology every year, the club promises to perpetuate itself and to carry on its organization for the good of its members and the ultimate benefit of Pan-Americanism” (The Technique, 1919, p. 285). Student clubs and organizations started to emerge in different parts of the country in the early part of the 20th century. Questions arise as to how international students communicated. An answer to this question comes from a religious organization established in 1844 in England, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). The international branch of the YMCA created The Committee of Friendly Relations Among Foreign Students (Committee) in 1911 (Kramer, 2010). The Committee was created to support students attending institutions of higher education in the United States. Similar organizations were established by the international branch of the YMCA in Europe as well as to serve international students there. Some of the services that the Committee provided to international students were to assimilate and accultur- ate the foreign student to the culture of the United States. The Committee published informational guides to support the international students. Inside the guide, international students could obtain information about life in the United States, the American educational system, what to expect when they arrived in college, and who students should contact once they reached the shores of the nation (Committee, 1917a). The booklet also had advertisements from schools in the United States that were trying to lure international students onto their campus. It is not surprising that a religious organization would come to the aid of the international students. Most of the international students in the United States at this time were very religious. This can be seen as part of a survey conducted in 1925 by the Committee; 93% of international Latin American students reported to be Christian (Bevis & Lucas, 2007). The Committee was responsible for publishing “El Estudiante Latino-Americano” (The Latin American Student), a publication written by and for international Latin American students studying in the United States. The international Latin American students who wrote articles in “El Estudiante Latino-Americano” were part of the Federación de Estudiantes Latino-Americanos (Federation of Latin American Students), and the publication was the official organ of the group. The Federation of Latin American Students’ (Federation) purpose was to unite all the international Latin American students attending school in the United States. The outcomes that the Federation wanted to reach were the following: Fajardo 73

•• To spread a knowledge of Hispanic American countries in the United States. •• To make the Hispanic American countries better known among themselves. •• The study of Hispanic American institutions and needs, and the comparison of the institutions of one country with those of another. •• To establish helpful relations among the students from Hispanic America. •• To advise any person about the educational institutions of the United States, and so on. (The Hispanic American Historical Review, 1918, p. 376)

Inside El Estudiante Latino-Americano, articles were written about the Latin American countries, politics and economies, religion, poems, updates on alumni, and national and local news. In the section titled “Noticias Locales” (Local News), students could hear updates of other international Latin American groups throughout the country (Committee, 1917b). The Committee had one or more full-time secretaries for each ethnicity represented by international students studying in the United States. The Latin American secretaries were headquartered in New York but spent the majority of their time traveling among the colleges and universities where international students were found (Committee, 1917a). In the following examples, the author talks about different groups of international Latin American students aligning themselves to the Federation:

El día 24 de febrero, después de presentados los planes de la Federación, los estudiantes de la Ohio State University organizaron una asociación y se nombró como presidente interino al Sr. B. Mantaras de Argentina. (Committee, 1917b, p. 39)

El día 5 de abril salió el Sr. Secretario para el Este donde visito a los estudiantes en Cornell, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Pennsylvania, Jefferson Medical College, Maryland, Johns Hopkins, y algunos estudiantes en Washington y Nueva york. Se formaron organizaciones en Pennsylvania, Maryland y Johns Hopkins. De Baltimore nos escriben que se está trabajando asiduamente a favor de nuestra empresa. (Committee, 1917b, p. 39)

The Secretaries, who were employees of the Committee, were traveling to different college campuses and meeting with the international Latin American students so that those students could form clubs similar to Lehigh’s Club Hispano Americano. Every international Latin American student who paid US$1 became a member of the Federation, regardless of the campus he attended and was entitled to receive the publication for free (The Hispanic American Historical Review, 1918). Soon after these clubs and societies of international Latin American students appeared on college campuses, a small number of groups decided to adopt Greek letters.

The International Latin American Student Fraternities Emerge in 1889 The first known fraternity created by international Latin American students was Alpha Zeta Fraternity (Alpha Chapter, 1890). Alpha Zeta was a short-lived fraternity founded 74 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1) at Cornell University. It was made up of students from Nicaragua, Honduras, Brazil and Puerto Rico and only catered to Spanish and Portugese speaking students (Cornelliana, 1890). Alpha Zeta was in existence for about four years before becoming defunct. The first inter-collegiate fraternity to serve international Latin American students was Psi Alpha Kappa Fraternity (New Fraternity, 1900; Kappa Sigma, 1901). Psi Alpha Kappa was established in the fall of 1900 at Lehigh University. It was incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania on June 17, 1901 (The Epitome, 1903). According to the Lehigh University yearbook, soon after its establishment, two chapters were founded at MIT and Lafayette College, respectively. The Delta Upsilon Quarterly reported in their publication, “Psi Alpha Kappa, a new fraternity, has been organized at Lehigh by some of the Spanish American students” (Goldwin, 2001, p. 88). In 1907, in a publication called The Cornell Cosmopolitan Club Annual, a reference is made to a “Spanish American fraternity,” which was flourishing at Lehigh University and the reason why a Cosmopolitan Club could not be established at the school (Cornell University, 1907, p. 12). In the subsequent years, the fraternity had members who were not Latin American and eventually merged with other fraternities (Baird, 1915). The fraternity also boasts to have established chapters in México that would make it the first Latin American fraternity created by international students to have chapters in other countries. A description of the efforts of the fraternity to expand is as follows: “As soon as we were incorporated, efforts were made to establish chapters at Columbia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, and several colleges in Mexico” (The Epitome, 1903, p. 133). One of the first known Latin American fraternities created by international students in a major city was Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity (Baird, 1915). Alpha Lambda Mu was a fraternity established as early as 1910 at the University of Pennsylvania (Kappa Alpha Journal, 1910). Evidence of this organization can be found in several publications and an alumni book from the University of Pennsylvania describing some of its members (University of Pennsylvania, General Alumni Society, 1922). A description for the organization reads as follows: “Latin American students at the University of Pennsylvania are reported to have launched a new fraternity, Alpha Lambda Mu” (Kappa Alpha Journal, 1910, p. 462). The following is an example of a member of Alpha Lambda Mu; Luis C. Delgado was born in Cartagena, Colombia, in 1887. Luis was a “[m]ember of the Latin-American Club and of the Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity” (Dental Record, 1910, p. 62). The organization was a local fraternity that existed for several years before becoming defunct. These organizations began the international Latin American student fraternity movement that lasted 86 years from 1889 to 1975. Soon, this movement would spread to other college campuses. The following fraternities formed part of the movement:

•• 1889 Alpha Zeta Fraternity, Cornell University •• 1900 Psi Alpha Kappa Fraternity, Lehigh University •• 1910 Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity, University of Pennsylvania •• 1910 Psi Sigma Delta Fraternity, Columbia University •• 1912 Sigma Iota Fraternity, Louisiana State University Fajardo 75

•• 1913 Phi Chi Delta Fraternity, Louisiana State University •• 1919 Phi Lambda Alpha Fraternity “Fraternidad Latino-Americana”, University of California–Berkeley •• 1925 Lambda Sigma Alpha Fraternity “Latin Students in America”, University of Arizona •• 1931 Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity “Fraternidad Ibero-Americana”, Louisiana State University •• 1939 Sigma Iota Alpha Fraternity “Sociedad Ibero-Americana”, Louisiana State University •• 1949 Phi Lambda Alpha Fraternity, Kansas State University

The ideology of uniting Latin American countries to protect themselves against the United States can be seen by what members of these organizations have said and written. Jorge Mañach, a Cuban writer and member of Phi Lambda Alpha recalls the purpose of his fraternity while writing an open letter in a magazine:

Pero en el fondo, a todos nos unían las coincidencias: la sangre, el idioma, la melancolía que antes dije, y sobre todo un férvido ideal: el de que algún día toda nuestra América se uniese frente al “coloso del Norte,” no para irle a la contra, sino, sencillamente, para defendernos de él y para tener mas fuerte personalidad ante el. (As cited in Alva Castro, 1988, p. 248)

Mañach was referring to the United States when speaking of the “Colossus of the North.” He mentioned at the time of his undergraduate years, “Yankee Imperialism” was not yet spoken of among the international Latin American students, which later became a hot topic for these groups. What moved the members was primarily the grand idea of a united Latin America. Mañach also wrote,

con el designio de vincular a los jóvenes de nuestros países que estudiaban en las instituciones docentes superiores del Norte. Siguiendo la costumbre americana en tales casos, se adoptaron esas letras griegas como siglas. (As cited in Alva Castro, 1988, p. 248)

Although studying in the United States, some of these students continued to envy the success that the country had when compared with their own nations. Some groups even wanted to liberate Puerto Rico as part of their ideology. An example of this is Phi Iota Alpha. By all accounts, Phi Iota Alpha was a political organization (Desco, 1996; “Fraternity Supports Culture of Hispanics,” 1984). Alberto Matto, a member of the fraternity from Peru, describes the purpose of the fraternity as “Su objetivo era liberar a Puerto Rico. Ahí empezó mi interés político” (Desco, 1996, p. 9). This specific fraternity, which wanted to unite Latin American countries, wanted Puerto Rico to be liberated from the control of the United States. It got to the point that even some of its members did not agree with the fraternity’s political views and broke ties with it while creating their own organization. Sigma Iota Alpha Fraternity, founded at LSU in 1939, 76 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1) was established by former members of Phi Iota Alpha (La Era de Crecimiento, 1939- 1964, n.d.). Members of the other Latin American organizations on the LSU campus met Sigma Iota Alpha with “recelo” or distrust and placed every obstacle possible so that the new fraternity would not be recognized on the campus in Baton Rouge (La Era de Crecimiento, 1939-1964, n.d.). Despite this set back, Phi Iota Alpha continued to recruit members by writing news- letters explaining their membership. The following is an excerpt of one of their entries,

How do we fit into the picture? Phi Iota Alpha is a fraternity whose membership is entirely Latin American. All of its members are students who have come to the United States to acquire an education at one of the many colleges and universities in this country. For several years we mix with Americans at your schools. (The Latin American Informer, 1948)

The majority of its chapters were defunct by the late 1950s. Only two survived into the mid-1960s. Phi Iota Alpha lasted until the spring of 1975 on the campus of LSU when it became defunct. Out of all the international Latin American student fraternities, Phi Chi Delta Fraternity was the largest in terms of entities (Brown, 1920). Phi Chi Delta had 14 active chapters in the 1910s. Phi Chi Delta Fraternity was established on the campus of LSU on January 9, 1913. The organization adopted Greek letters 4 years after being established as the L.I.U.N. Fraternity (L.I.U.N. Becomes National Frat, 1913). LSU recognizes this organization as the first international Latin American inter-collegiate student fraternity out of the institution because at the time its three other chapters were established, Sigma Iota only had one chapter (B. Cowen, personal communication, October 12, 2012). Phi Chi Delta also had alumni chapters in México, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Sigma Iota was the fifth of these organizations founded in 1912, and a description of the fraternity says that the group will “proceed cautiously in order to incorporate into their mist the best of their countrymen in attendance upon colleges in the United States” (Spanish Society Becomes Fraternity, 1912, p. 8). The majority of their members were from Latin America. The Sigma Iota chapter at the University of Florida was comprised of Italian students (Alamillo, J. M., Leon, A. D., Iber, J., & Regalado, S. O., 2011). The last known international Latin American student fraternity to get founded was Phi Lambda Alpha at Kansas State College (now University) in 1949 (Royal Purple, 1951). During World War II, an increase of international Latin American students was seen by universities that housed these groups as students stopped attending colleges and universities in Europe (Schwartz, 2006). Although the enrollment of international Latin American students continued to increase on college campuses, these fraternities all became defunct by the early 1970s. One reason for their decline was that these organizations were mainstream and usually served the wealthier foreign-born students, although a small number of the members were from the United States and some were middle class. In addition, one can conclude that because of their fast expansion to other colleges and universities, some organizations were established on five Fajardo 77 campuses within 2 years, there was not a strong foundation or structure to keep the entities afloat. Phi Chi Delta and Sigma Iota both expanded rapidly to other campuses soon after their establishment (Baird, 1915). There were some fraternity chapters that changed their name on three different occasions (The Modulus, 1934). An example of this is a chapter established at Trine University. The entity began as a club for international Latin American students. The entity decided to adopt Greek letters and formed the Alpha Chapter of Gamma Eta Alpha Fraternity. The entity then became the Eta Chapter of Phi Lambda Alpha and eventually transformed to the Iota Chapter of Phi Iota Alpha (The Modulus, 1934). A transformation such as this is one of the reasons that led to their decline. The other reason was the fact that they did not cater to U.S.-born Latinos and the community here in the United States as can be seen in their fraternity descriptions (The Latin American Informer, 1948). The idea of uniting Latin American countries that these fraternities professed was not of interest to the U.S.-born Latino. The U.S.-born Latino was focused on the prejudices and struggles their communities were facing in the United States. That is the reason why U.S.-born Latinos established social justice organizations that empowered the community at the same time these international Latin American student fraternities were disappearing. None of the international Latin American student fraternities participated in the Mexican American or Puerto Rican movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, the last of these organizations dies out at the time of increased U.S. Latino enrollment in institutions of higher education. The final nail in the coffin for these international Latin American student fraternities was the Civil Rights movement, which ultimately sprouted all current Latino fraternities.

The Latino Greek Movement Begins in 1975 In contrast to the international Latin American student fraternities that were concerned about the unification of Latin American countries, the Latino Greek Movement that began in 1975 focused on the empowerment of the Latino community in the United States. The establishment of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., in New Jersey signaled the birth of the Latino Greek Movement that all active Latino fraternities are part of. The Latino Greek Movement advocates for Latino rights, emphasizes community service, stands for Latino empowerment and Latino higher education achieve- ment, and serves the Latino community in the United States. An example of how this new movement served Latinos in the United States comes from Lambda Theta Phi in the mid-1970s. The founders of the fraternity sent a petition to Kean College’s Student Council requiring that a bilingual-speaking student be present at the voting booths so that Spanish-speaking students would know the directions that were written in English (Peña, 2001). Kean College in New Jersey had a large enrollment of English as a Second Language (ESL) students at the time. The Civil Rights Act of 1975 required bilingual instructions if the minority population was in excess of 10% of the electorate. New Jersey law required bilingual instructions in both Spanish and English. Kean College’s student Latino population exceeded that percent- age (Peña, 2001). In the spring of 1976, what had been agreed and promised to the 78 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1)

Latino student body was not fulfilled by the Student Council at Kean. The members of the new fraternity went into action demanding that the laws be followed and service be provided to Latino students as part of the campus community. Another example comes from the two fraternal fathers of the fraternity who were Kean College’s staff members. The two fraternal fathers also helped establish the Hispanic Association of College Employees in 1978 (Hispanic Association of College Employees, n.d.). The organization was founded as a response to the lack of recruitment of Latino staff and faculty by Kean College. Latino staff who were employees of the college had minimal employment mobility during that time, and the members came together to develop a plan and a strategy to address this issue with those in charge. These are the type of actions that were avoided by the international Latin American student fraternities. The Latino Greek Movement that was founded in New Jersey in 1975 and is alive on college campuses today consist of the following fraternities:

•• 1975 Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., Kean College (now University) •• 1979 Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc., Rutgers University •• 1982 La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., Cornell University •• 1984 Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (adopted 1931 date and history) •• 1985 Latino American Unida, Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity, Inc., University of Buffalo •• 1986 Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc., University of Iowa •• 1987 Gamma Zeta Alpha Fraternity, California State University–Chico •• 1988 Nu Alpha Kappa Fraternity, California Polytechnic–San Luis Obispo

In 1984, a group of Latino students at RPI would read an article regarding a member of one of the defunct international Latin American fraternities (Phi Iota Alpha). The students, looking to establish a Latino fraternity that would promote the Latino culture and empower the community in the United States, would research and resur- rect the organization. Abelardo Bal, one of the founding fathers of this fraternity, stated in an April 1984 article that “Any Rensselaer student who is interested in helping found the fraternity, or just getting involved should come to our meetings” (“Latin Americans Reform Fraternity,” 1984, p. 3). Roberto Reyes, RPI’s Director of Minority Affairs, and Jorge Mendez-Cintron, RPI staff advisor, helped the new group become organized and draft a constitution (“Latin Americans Reform Fraternity,” 1984). The new group’s alumni secretary and historian, Wilson Santiago, stated,

If you compare Phi Iota Alpha’s goals of yesterday to the present, they are very much different. The fraternity was once a political organization which restricted membership to native born Hispanics. The fraternity was set up to foster an environment similar to their homeland. Now the fraternity welcomes anyone who has an interest in Hispanic culture; we do not discriminate against anyone. (“Fraternity Supports Culture of Hispanics,” 1984, p. 5) Fajardo 79

Immediately after deciding to establish the fraternity, the new members began to search for alumni of the 1931 group and research the older organization. In September of 1984, a plea was made to anyone with information on members of the defunct fraternity to contact the chapter president (“Fraternity Supports Culture of Hispanics,” 1984). The new Phi Iota Alpha, now part of the Latino Greek Movement, would take a quarter of a century to complete their research. The organization adopted the history and the founding date of 1931 and not 1984. In conclusion, there have been two fraternal movements created by Latin American students. The first movement served international Latin American students who came to the United States to study. The majority of the members came from wealthy backgrounds that could afford to send their sons to school in the United States. Once their education was complete, the vast majority of these students returned to their countries. The philosophy behind these fraternities was to unite their countries both economically and politically so that they could stand up to the United States as some of their members have described (as cited in Alva Castro, 1988; Desco, 1996). These fraternities met with some success in the early part of the 20th century as they expanded rather quickly to other college campuses. The international Latin American student fraternities saw their demise at a time when more U.S.-born Latinos started to enroll in colleges and universities. Their reign lasted from 1889 to 1975. As the result of the Civil Rights Movement, which included the Mexican American and Puerto Rican Movements of the 1960s and 1970s, more U.S.-born Latinos began enrolling in higher education. U.S.-born Latinos were interested in empowering and serving the community in the United States and not Latin American countries. Students that formed part of this group began establishing fraternities that emphasized higher education attainment for Latinos, advocated for equal rights, and service to the community. Those were causes missing from the international Latin American student fraternities. The Latino Greek Movement that exists today had its birth in mid-1970s New Jersey and encompasses all current active Latino fraternities. Previous publications regarding the international fraternities have omitted the first couple of organizations that existed as well as failed to address the ideology behind the movement’s establishment. Those publications have also attempted to combine the two movements, which served a different purpose. Information in this document serves to better understand the first movement that catered to the international Latin American students.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 80 Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 14(1)

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Author Biography Oliver Fajardo works in the education field for one of the largest public school systems in the country. He uses history of Latinos in the United States to show youth that we come from a rich background and have contributed to the building of this nation.