Picture this, Washington D.C., October 1996.  

 A few of us quasi-renegades traveled from San Marcos by van to attend the Latino March on Washington.  During this trip, Jessica Chavarria and Diana Franchini, then members of LULAC, along with other LULAC-ers met up with brothers from Lambda Theta Phi Fraternity to discuss Latino/Latina Greek organizations.  The brothers recommended that the ladies check out Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, given that they were a strong organization up North.  At that time, no Latino/Latina Greek organizations existed at SWT.  The closest to it was the Sisterhood of Distinguished Latinas, a local Latina organization on campus.   

 

    Once we returned to campus, the women started researching the website, calling Nationals, and contacting the sisters at UT, then the closest chapter.  They developed an interest group that semester and had acquired almost 20 interests by the Spring semester, including yours truly.  By the Fall of 1997, the women had established La Colonia de Sigma Lambda Gamma.  At that point in time, the National requirement for establishing a charter was to have 10 members with the proper qualifications, including a 2.5 cumulative GPA.  We fluctuated with membership and struggled with maintaining as many original members as possible, but being the unique group that we were, we were torn between establishing a charter and attending to the trials of campus life as first-generation Americans, as mothers, as double majors, and unhappy girlfriends to undeserving men to name a few.  Our footing on campus was equally tumultuous given that we were now competing with Sigma Delta Lambda for membership.  Trying to distinguish ourselves as a multicultural, forward-thinking organization paid off in the long run; we eventually gained the respect of SWT’s various student organizations and leading faculty.   

   Convention 1998 was the first National event that the Gammitas were exposed to.  Debra Medellin and I were the colony’s representatives.  This experience opened doors for us, given that we were basically left to our own devices to reach chapter status.  We met sisters, brothers, and fellow Gammitas who encouraged us to continue on.  Back at the home front, Sylvia Guajardo recruited the four remaining women that were needed to meet National requirements for chapter.  By the end of the summer, the Gammitas were ready to submit the necessary paperwork.   

   On September 19,1998, Sylvia and I decided to meet at Sylvia’s apartment to await the results of the National Board’s meeting.  By the time I arrived at Sylvia’s apartment, they had already made their decision.  Sylvia was the first to find out that we, the members of La Colonia de Sigma Lambda Gamma, were now the Xi Alpha Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority.  The Lambda Alpha Chapter at Texas A&M University, who just received their charter at that year’s Convention, willingly conducted our initiation.  Given our hectic schedules, half of us traveled to A&M one Friday evening, and the rest were initiated by the first round of initiates in San Marcos.  To keep things even, we agreed that October 21st would be recognized as the official founding date of Xi Alpha Chapter.    

   Fall 1998 was an exciting semester for our chapter.  We took immense pride in wearing pink-on-purple letters on our shirts, on tikis, written on notebooks, and stuck onto our vehicles.  We immersed ourselves in cultural events, community service projects, and a successful philanthropy with the local women’s center.  We were proud to call each other Gammas, to contort our fingers into that strange position, and to flex our vocal cords to make that most powerful and distinctive call.  As one of the few non-Mexican-American sisters and the first chapter president, my agenda was to broaden the scope of this Latina-based sorority to purposely include events that explored other cultures.  We joined upwith fraternities such as Delta Chi to promote fundraisers.  We attended and co-sponsored events with the Divine 9 organizations.  And of course, we promoted the efforts of Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, the first Latino fraternity on the Quad.  Us Gammas continued to remain involved with powerhouse organizations such as MeCha, LULAC, HBSA, and MAES, most of us holding executive positions.  Our sorority dipped its hands into campus-wide events such as the Images of Women Conference and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration.  The Founding Line and its interests were known on and off campus as women of resilience, distinction, and power.    

   Two women formed our Beta Line in the Spring of 1999.  That year, founders Jessica, Franchini, and myself graduated from SWT.  Sylvia took the reins as president for the following academic year.  The chapter continued with modest success, but with another round of graduations, the membership numbers reduced significantly.  By the time I met with Naomi and Sylvia at the SMU campus for District Retreat, it was evident that the chapter was going to have to consider its continuation at SWT for the coming year.  I stepped up to the challenge of District Governor for Texas and Florida in the summer of 2000. By the time I inherited the role, one of the first tasks I encumbered was to formally dissolve the chapter due to non-existent membership.  But I knew that an act like this, as heart wrenching and humbling as it was to mandate, was beneficial to the future of Xi Alpha chapter.  In the deepest crevasses of my soul I knew Xi Alpha would rise again, just like the phoenix from the ashes... 

 

Ivonne M. Espada
Fantasma #3
Xi Alpha Chapter Founder
Proud Mom of La Fuerza, Fundacion, and La Princesa Maya