Lambda Theta Nu made Kent State history by being the first official Latina sorority on campus.

BELLAS, Benefiting the Education of Latinas in Leadership, Academics and Sisterhood, was an interest group for Lambda Theta Nu and after two years, was officially announced as a sorority.

Lambda Theta Nu helped Kent State meet the requirements to add NALFO, the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organization, to Kent State as a Greek council.

NALFO requires a school to have three chapters. The Kent State NALFO chapters include Lambda Theta Nu, Alpha Psi Lambda and Phi Iota Alpha.

Rachel Hook, president of Lambda Theta Nu, said her sorority consists of seven founding members that are all from Latina-based backgrounds. 

“We wanted to make sure we had a good base by getting to know other Greek organizations and doing a lot of community service,” Hook said. “We wanted a strong foundation before becoming an official sorority.”

Hook, a senior managerial marketing major, said she was born in Costa Rica and came here from Mexico. She said that she became really homesick during her freshman year of college.

“When I came here freshman year, I looked like everyone around me, but I could not identify myself with anybody,” Hook said. “When I met these ladies, I felt an instant connection.”

Hook said she started to feel more at home and started to enjoy her college experience once she got involved with her sorority. As a result, this inspired her to push herself to do more and become president of the sorority. 

“When you do something you’re passionate about, no matter the responsibility, it doesn’t feel like work,” Hook said.

Lambda Theta Nu is Latina based but is accepting members of all cultures. Marie Knott, member of Lambda Theta Nu, said as an Asian-American on Kent State’s campus, she felt out of place as well, but after attending a few meetings, she felt more at home.

“We celebrate diversity and culture, so we want all girls to feel welcomed,” Knott said.

Knott, a senior public health major, said sisterhood to her means creating a culture of acceptance and support. 

“I was really homesick and wanted to find a sense of family on campus like I have at home, and I found that with these group of girls,” Knott said.

Lambda Theta Nu officially announced themselves as a sorority on campus last week at their “Step Out” with the support of Phi Iota Alpha.

John Camargo, vice president of Phi Iota Alpha, said his fraternity was able to help Lambda Theta Nu establish themselves as a sorority by telling them the obstacles they had to face when becoming a fraternity and guiding them. 

“I think that by helping them, we were able to ease their minds and make the process better for them,” Camargo said.

Camargo, a senior technology major, said by adding another organization to NALFO, it’s giving them more visibility and acceptance as a Latino community.

“A lot of people don’t realize we have over 800 students on this campus that are Latino,” Camargo said. “We don’t care about the letters but about doing something more for our community.” 

To learn more about the Greek organizations on campus, visit http://www2.kent.edu/csi/greek/index.cfm.

Contact Zabrina Hvostal at [email protected].