Pi Lambda Chi

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1 Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority, Inc.
- 1.1 Herstory
- 1.2 Founding Madres
2 National Chapters

[edit] Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority, Inc.

ΠΛΧ - Pi Lambda Chi

Motto	Preserving Latina Culture
Colors	Green and Gold
Founded	March 5, 1994 at University of Colorado at Boulder
Type	Service
Scope	State
Headquarters	P.O. Box 40726 Denver, Colorado, 80204, USA
Chapters	5
Homepage	http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~latina/home.html

The Mission of Pi Lambda Chi is to create a strong sisterhood and educational support network for women on college campuses. Pi Lambda Chi seeks to preserve Latino/a culture as well as promote education and community service in the communities surrounding their campuses.

[edit] Herstory

Chapter One..

Sisterhood, education, unity and the preservation of Latina culture were all reasons why Pi Lambda Chi was founded at the University of Colorado at Boulder on March 5, 1994. Many young women, drawn together by their common need for a unique support system specifically geared to support, preserve, and teach Latino culture and history formed a union on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus. That union is known today as Pi Lambda Chi.

The initial group began in the Spring of 1993 in Boulder, Colorado with five students: Tamara Acevedo, Maria Castro, Dezi Gutierrez, Estella Juarez and Jennifer Rodriguez. The sorority began as a series of weekly dinners held at member's homes with traditional Mexican food usually being the menu of choice.

During these dinner meetings, the group got to know one another and talked about all the reasons why they believed a sorority that embraced Latina issues was needed on the Boulder campus. These women met with a Latina sorority already established in hopes to open a chapter in Boulder and in the Fall of 1993 formed an interest group that expanded to include Lorraine Atencio, Ramona Bash, Jessica Bauernfeind, Sandra Cano, Carmen Estrada, Regina Longoria, Christine Olivas, Helen Richardson, and Tanya Vigil. Serving as officers for the interest group were President Maria Castro, Vice President Jennifer Rodriguez, Secretary Tamara Acevedo, and Treasurer Dezi Gutierrez.

Upon organizing this interest group to pledge, the women as a whole felt their needs would not fully be met with this already established sorority and without further delay began to establish their own sorority.

Chapter Two..

Pi Lambda Chi was the result of the hard work and effort of fourteen different young ladies who found that existing campus groups did not fully meet their needs. Some women believed it would be founded to build a support system to help overcome the obstacles a Latina women must overcome in higher education and in life. Others envisioned it as the beginning of the Latina contribution to the ethnic Greek system already in place. Some saw it as an academic support network, while still others saw it as an opportunity to unite Latinas on campus and help promote education in the Latino community. Community service in the Latino community, teaching and promoting awareness of Latina culture, sisterhood, and embracing their uniqueness were all things these women strove to include in the organization they were creating. What that felt most in their hearts was the importance of building a bridge across the rough waters of life for the Pi Lambda Chi sisters yet to attend college and even those yet to be born.

An important aspect of Pi Lambda Chi's ideology is that any female of any ethnic group is welcome to share in the experience of being a Lambda. At no time, do the founding mothers wish to close the doors of opportunity to anyone as doors have all to often been closed to them. Any Latina or any woman interested in Latina culture is welcome to join the pledge line. Once you are part of this special sisterhood, you will remain a sister for the rest of your life. Hermanas...por la vida!!

Chapter Three...

After months of meetings and envisioning the kind of things they stood for, the group headed to Tabernash, Colorado March 5-6, 1994 to choose the letters, their colors, symbols and constitutional requirements. On the evening of March 5, 1994 a unanimous vote passed in favor adopting the letters Pi Lambda Chi. The group, who a year earlier had not even known one another, formalized their union with a toast and were the first to cross-over in to the sisterhood of Pi Lambda Chi. March 5, 1994 forever more became known as Founder's Day.

Chapter Four...

Pi Lambda Chi's first pledge line had its beginnings in the form of an interest group during the Fall semester of 1994. The pledge process of this line began at 10 AM on January 21, 1995. Headed by their pledge leader, Melissa Salazar, the first line of pledges to cross-over consisted of the following individuals: Tonka Aguirre, Amparo Garcia, Gina Garcia, Emanuelita Martinez, Rena Martinez, Amanda Rodriguez, Esther Rocha, Alma Rojas, Melissa Salazar, Laurie Vargas, and Corrie Velasquez.

[edit] Founding Madres

Tamara Acevedo
Ramona Bash
Sandra Cano
Carmen Estrada
Estella Juarez
Christine Olivas
Jennifer Rodriguez
Lorraine Atencio
Jessica Baurnfiend
Maria Castro
Dezi Gutierrez
Regina Longoria
Helen Richardson
Tanya Vigil

[edit] National Chapters

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