NMSU's Annual fiesta lauds Hispanic traditions

Published: Sunday, April 11, 2010

Students will get the chance to celebrate Hispanic culture during the two weeks of Fiestas Latinas, starting Wednesday and ending on April 25. Fiestas Latinas, sponsored by Associated Students of New Mexico State University, has been an annual event at NMSU for more than 20 years, Hispanic Council President Julia Garcia said. Garcia said she expects a high turn-out of participants, as well as spectators at the festival this year. "All NMSU students are encouraged to attend the events,” Garcia said. “It’s a great way to experience a different culture.”

During the fiesta, several different events will take place around campus, organized by several Hispanic student organizations, such as a soccer tournament on Saturday and a Comedy Night on April 21, Garcia said. Garcia said the events change every year, but certain events that have become very popular among students have become regular to Fiestas Latinas. Garcia said “Bailando con las Penguinas”, or “Dancing with the Penguins”, hosted by Kappa Delta Chi on Friday, is an event that has gained popularity, in which students can really get involved.
Hispanic Council Vice President Adad Delval said during this event, students learn how to dance traditional Hispanic styles on the Corbett Center outdoor stage. There will also be a social dance afterward, in the Aggie Underground, on the first floor of Corbett Center. Garcia said some new events will be added this year, such as Hispanic Art Night, sponsored by Students for Equality, Education, and Diversity, which will start off the celebration in the Corbett Center Ballrooms on Wednesday. Fiestas Latinas Committee Chair Mikayla DeHoyos said this will be the first time Fiestas Latinas will host an event like this, and she is looking forward to seeing the crowd it will attract.“We’re going to have a guest reading,” DeHoyos said. “It will be the main event.”

Alexia Severson is a staff writer for the NMSU staff and can be reached via This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Her full article can be seen by visiting NMSU's The Roundup.

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KDChi's new addition to the family and NALFO Awards

Lubbock, TX - KDChi's new addition to the family and NALFO Awards

KDChi Southwestern Colony Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Inc. is proud to announce our new addition to the sisterhood. It is with great pleasure Vice President of Expansion Mani Banwait and National External Recruitment Officer Veronica Hernandez traveled to Georgetown, TX for the colonization of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc at Southwestern University located just minutes away from Austin Texas. 11 dedicated charters were initiated this past weekend into our sisterhood and colony email is southwestern.colony@kappadeltachi.org should you want to congratulate them.

Members of their big sister, Pi chapter from the University of Texas at Austin were in attendance as was their Advisor, Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs and Kappa Delta Chi National VP of Collegiate Affairs, Mary Gonzalez. These ladies share a passion for community service and are already making a name for themselves on campus and were featured in the University Newspaper. Congratulations ladies! Keep up the great work!

In other news, KDChi was well represented at the National Association for Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) Awards Gala held in Arlington, Virginia over the weekend. Of the many attendees, KDChi National President, Akisha Hernandez and Mary Gonzalez attended. The sisterhood continues a tradition of taking home many of the awards that are handed out at the annual awards banquet. KDChi President Akisha beamed and immediately shared the information with sisters upon hearing the news about the 2010 NALFO awards KDChi took home including:

National Philanthropic Organization of the Year:

Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc.

National Undergraduate Chapter of the Year:
Kappa Delta Chi's, Alpha Sigma Chapter at
Florida State University.

Professional of the Year:

Kansas State Rep. & Alpha Alpha Alumni,
Rep. Delia Garcia

Rising Professional of the Year:

Pi Alumni, Mary Gonzalez

Kappa Delta Chi prides itself on our focus on community service, developing strong leaders who excel at every aspect of their collegiate and professional lives and our strong network of multicultural women. We thank you for your continued support of our sisterhood and it's mission to enact positive change.

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11 Members of KDChi will be initiated in April

Latina Sorority Fosters New Relationships at Southwestern Univ

Members of the new Kappa Delta Chi sorority at Southwestern.

Leading with Integrity, United through Service.

Kristi Lenderman, president of Southwestern University’s Kappa Delta Chi sorority, has taken the group’s official motto to heart. Since joining the Latina-based sorority, also known as KDChi, Lenderman has not only assumed a leadership role among her sisters, but has also worked hard to extend the sorority’s reach to the wider community.

KDChi was founded in 1987 by four women attending Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. Each of the founding sisters shared a driving desire to foster relationships between the Latina population at their university and to serve their community. They valued qualities such as unity, honesty, integrity and leadership, and used them to develop a rich service-based sisterhood that supports the American Cancer Society as its official philanthropy.

Since becoming a nationally recognized organization in 1991, KDChi has grown to include about 3,000 sisters in more than 40 chapters across the United States. It will soon expand further to include Southwestern.

Lenderman, who would like to work for a Latin American nonprofit group and become an immigration lawyer, said she wanted to join KDChi before it was even present on campus.

“I knew the women involved have the same goals of serving the Latin American community as I do,” she said. “I also appreciated the benefits of sisterhood; that you have women who are your family for life and you can have access to even after graduating.”

Lenderman was one of 16 Southwestern students who approached Mary Gonzalez, assistant dean of students for multicultural affairs, about the possibility of starting a KDChi chapter at Southwestern. Gonzalez has extensive ties to KDChi herself, including serving as the organization’s vice president of collegiate affairs and overseeing its 40 chapters around the country.

The group has 11 charter members who will be initiated April 17. After securing their first pledge class in the fall, the group will qualify for official chapter status.

Until then, the members are keeping busy. Community service remains important, and the sisters have had opportunities to take part in several different local philanthropies. Lenderman’s favorite was a leadership workshop aimed at working with young women in local high schools.

“We were able to come together as a whole to teach the girls how important college is and build their confidence,” Lenderman said. In addition to their work encouraging young ladies, the sisters have been involved in reaching out to other groups of high school students, running test prep classes and assisting them with the college application process.

The women have also been involved in preparing for the rush process. As they anticipate welcoming new pledges, Lenderman stresses that while the sorority is focused on the Latina community, it is open to women of all ethnicities.

“We have a multicultural membership. We welcome everyone and work hard to create women who are brilliant and able to do awesome things,” she said.

−Paige Curtis

Article courtesy of Paige Curtis at the Southwester Univ Newsroom and can be viewed in full here

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KDChi Alumni Delia Garcia goes to Washington DC

KDChi, Alpha Alpha Alumni & Kansas Rep. Garcia Invited To Nation's Capitol
U.S. Sen. Reid & Leadership Will Meet With Key Latino Elected Officials On Economic Issues Facing Latino Communities

KS Rep. Delia Garcia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - Economic challenges facing Latino communities across the U.S. will be the topic of discussion at a meeting tomorrow, Thursday, April 15th on Capitol Hill at the Senate Visitors Center in Room 213. Key Latino state and local elected officials were invited to Washington D.C. for a meeting with the U.S. Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force to discuss economic issues facing Latino families in across the U.S.
During this closed meeting, Rep. Delia Garcia will meet personally with U.S. Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid and Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to help raise awareness about economic issues facing Latinos in Kansas and possible ideas to create jobs, and strengthen our economy, one state at a time.

"It is my goal is to inform our U.S. Senate Leadership and Senate Members on this Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force that Kansas Latinos have been especially hit hard during these economic hard times, especially in the construction jobs," says State Rep. Delia Garcia. "We in the heartland of the U.S. in the great state of Kansas are feeling these economic hardships at about 5% unemployment in some parts of our state, which is why I think it is imperative for some program funding to be targeted to area-specific communities."

Senate Democrats know well that Hispanics, like all Americans, are struggling to keep their jobs and survive in these dire economic times. Job losses continue, unemployment remains high, and family incomes have been hit hard by the recession. As the Senate continues to work on passing legislation to create jobs and build on the work that has been done over the past year to help turn around our economy, it is in this forum meeting that we will have the opportunity for Democratic Senators to engage with Latino state and local elected officials on addressing these issues.
"This is an important opportunity for Kansas to be represented and for me to speak directly with the decision makers in Washington about the benefits of innovative action steps suggested by us elected officials on the ground in our respective states," said Rep. Delia Garcia.

A Press Conference led by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) will take place on Thursday, April 15th at 3pm at the Senate Visitors Center in Room 213.

About The Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force:
The U.S. Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force was created nearly 20 years ago with the intent of strengthening relationships between Hispanic/Latino leaders and Senators to ensure the issues of greatest importance to Latinos are at the top of our legislative agenda in order to work together to address mutual concerns. www.dsoc.senate.gov

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KDChi, Pi sister asked to blog for Misma

Pi Chapter sis asked to blog on why she chose KDChi

Misma - A Latina perspective blog on culture, news, and politics.

The Story of a Latina Sorority Girl

Anali Martinez, March 27, 2010 by

Hello all!! My name is Anali Martinez. I am a 3rd year civil engineering major at the University of Texas at Austin. I was asked to write for this blog about my experience as a Latina who is in a sorority. I am proud to say that I am a sister of a Latina-founded Service sorority, Kappa Delta Chi - Pi Chapter .

Ever since I can remember I knew that I was coming to college. My parents came from nothing and both were immigrants who tried their hardest to make it in the states. They both were fortunate enough to attend college. Because of this my parents always expected my siblings and I do the same. When I decided to graduate high school as a junior and come to school in Austin, no one was really surprised.

My first week at school I found out about an event called Sabado Gigante and dragged my roommate with me. At this event there were many Latino-based organizations including some Latina sororities. Little did I know that eventually I would be on of those girls wearing pink and maroon trying to recruit people to join.

When people back home found out me of all people was in a sorority, it really took them by surprise. My parents didn’t understand what i was doing and my friends thought that it was a bad idea. Not only friends back home, but also the friends I had met through minority engineering organizations.

The typical conception of sororities is that ALL sorority girls…party, drink, have sex, are rich, and most importantly are white. Thanks to the media the image sororities have has been distorted making it hard for other people on the outside to take it seriously.

My parents weren’t too happy because I had trouble getting along with girls since I was in middle school. Ever since then I had been judged by many other girls in my class. I was never skinny enough, pretty enough, social enough, never the girl they wanted me to be. From early on I decided girls were just not nice and my goal was to stay clear of any girls who might ill-treat me for the wrong reasons. I always thought if I ever joined a sorority it would be a repeat of all I had already experienced.

The reason I went up to the KDChi table was because one of my guy friends was making jokes with one of the sisters about how they were cousins because they had the same last name. Coincidentally, my roommate and I had the same last name too. We all joked and eventually she pulled me aside to tell me about the sorority.

In the end, I was proud of my decision and my friends and family came to realize that what they though was a sorority really wasn’t. What a joined was more than just a group of friends, it is a sisterhood.

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In addition to her blogging about KDChi, Anali has also chosen to spotlight other sororities on the UT campus to make it easier for young women entering college to understand what each organization stands for so they may chose what organization fits them best. You may read her full post and responses by clicking here.

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