A group of Hispanic ISU students are working to recharter a Latina sorority after an eight-year absence from the campus.

“I think it’s important for us to have something that we can belong to,” said Silvia Delacruz, freshman in industrial engineering. “There aren’t many organizations for Latinos; I wanted something that would unite all of us.”

Rechartering a sorority is an ongoing process, said Delacruz, who is working to reorganize the Sigma Lambda Gamma chapter at Iowa State.

“It’s like founding the chapter all over again,” said Susanna Rundquist, national board member of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority. “In order to recharter the sorority, you need at least 20 interested women. So far we only have 10.”

Sigma Lambda Gamma is a sorority founded by Latinas, but Delacruz said people do not have to be Hispanic to be a member. Students interested in becoming members can contact Rundquist or Delacruz for more information.

“We’re a national sorority with a diverse membership,” said Rundquist, minority liaison officer for the College of Education. “Many of our members are Indian, Caucasian, African American and biracial; we are dedicated to working toward cultural diversity.”

Due to the overwhelming number of Latinas interested in a Latina sorority, the University of Iowa founded the original chapter on April 19, 1990. Within 10 years, 51 chapters had been chartered throughout the United States, including one at the West Point Military Academy, Rundquist said.

In 1991, three Hispanic women decided to charter a chapter at Iowa State. The Gamma chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma became the first Latina sorority at Iowa State, but it folded due to a lack of membership.

“I was part of the first pledge class at Iowa State,” Rundquist said.

She said the sorority was well-accepted by the ISU community, but it became inactive in 1994.

“We weren’t doing any recruitment,” Rundquist said. “Everyone was graduating.”

Because Sigma Lambda Gamma is a national organization, it must be a member of either the National Pan-Hellenic Council or the Panhellenic Council.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council is the governing body of the nine historically black fraternities and sororities, and the Panhellenic Council governs other sororities.

“Each chapter is encouraged to find support, either with NPHC or with the Panhellenic Council,” Rundquist said. “Because our intake is more similar to historically black sororities, some of our chapters feel more comfortable as associates of NPHC.”