Wednesday, March 14, 2018 Nebraska Greek community welcomes a new Latina sorority interest group
Members of EMERALD collected feminine hygiene products to donate to the UNITE fundraiser. UNITE will donate the goods to Native American reservations where sanitary feminine products are often unaffordable and unattainable, affecting their school attendance.
Since summer 2017, the members of EMERALD have pursued founding a chapter of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. at Nebraska. In February, the National Administrative Council of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. announced that it would accept the petition of the local interest group to become part of the national organization.
“The day we got the email saying we were being recognized as an official interest group, we screamed, laughed, hugged and were just so happy,” said Yajaira Lopez-Villa, president of EMERALD. “We have put in so much work in such a short amount of time, it’s insane!”
To petition to become established, the organization must meet national requirements for membership, grade point average, complete a set number of community service hours and participate in activities set by the headquarters.
Lopez-Villa says the group has already had great success in membership recruitment.
“It is great because our recruiting shows the desire and need to have KDChi at our campus. It has given me a reason to be a better version of myself, do better in my academics, and learning to be a leader. I am so thankful for the opportunity and look forward to giving other ladies the same opportunity.”
Founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University, Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. is a Latina founded Greek organization that promotes the values of unity, honesty, integrity and leadership. Like many multicultural Greek organizations, the group prides itself on its commitment to community service—boasting 40,000 hours of community service annually to local communities.
“It is definitely exciting to see another organization join the multicultural Greek community at Nebraska,” said Tanner Nguyen, president of the Multicultural Greek Council. "Expansion of the multicultural Greek community means that everyone is accepting of others’ differences. This in turn allows individuals to be their most authentic self. It is my hope that the expansion of this community will continue to foster a more open and loving atmosphere at the university.”
Next, the interest group will pursue recognition from the Multicultural Greek Council which is currently comprised of two fraternities and two sororities, the latest of which joined in 2016.
The national organization expects to initiate the interest group members and officially be established in Fall 2018.