A Brief History of International Latin American Student Fraternities
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
JHHXXX10.1177/1538192714548928Journal of Hispanic Higher EducationFajardo 548928research-article2014 Article 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 fraterni- ties 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 fra- ternities 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 uni- versities. 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 publi- cations, 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 stu- dents. 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 con- tinued to spread their message of unifying their countries to other campuses. A descrip- tion 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 orga- nization for the good of its members and the ultimate benefit of Pan-Americanism” (The Technique, 1919, p. 285). Student clubs and organizations started to