ANN: HERE AT LOCAL 4 NEWS WE’RE CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH. JIM: THE FIRST LATINO-BASED FRATERNITY IN THE MIDWEST STARTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. ITS FOUNDERS CAME TOGETHER AFTER THEY COULDN’T FIND A GROUP THAT MET THEIR NEEDS AT THE UNIVERSITY SIGMA LAMBDA BETA BECAME PART OF THE GREEK COMMUNITY IN 19-85 LOCAL
FOUR’S KARLA SOSA REPORTS THIS FRATERNITY CONTINUES TO GROW THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY THE FOUNDERS OF SIGMA LAMBDA BETA CAME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES THIS INTERNATIONAL FRATERNITY SO DIVERSE [NATS: CHANTS] ERIK ORTEGA MARQUEZ/ “I JUST FELT A REAL GOOD CONNECTION BETWEEN THEM BEFORE I EVEN GOT TO KNOW THEM REALLY
WELL PERSONALLY SO OVERALL IT WAS MORE OF THE EXPERIENCE THAT I WOULD GAIN FROM LEARNING ABOUT THEM LEARNING WHAT THEY DO FOR THE COMMUNITY.” THAT’S HOW ERIK ORTEGA MARQUEZ FEELS ABOUT BEING PART OF SIGMA LAMBDA BETA IN THE FALL OF 19-85 BALTAZAR MENDOZA- MADRIGAL STARTED EXPLORING THE IDEA OF STARTING A LATINO BASED
FRATERNITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA XAVIER ROMANO/ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: “THEY WERE BONDED TOGETHER BY THE FACT THAT THEY COULDN’T FIND WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR AT THE UNIVERSITY AND CAME TOGETHER AS A COLLECTIVE TO FOUND SIGMA LAMBDA BETA.” THE FRAT’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SAYS THERE’S A LOT OF INTEREST FROM UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE
COUNTRY TO HAVE THEIR OWN CHAPTER ON THEIR RESPECTED CAMPUSES. [NATS: CHANTS] XAVIER ROMANO/ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: “THERE’S AN INTEREST IN SIGMA LAMBDA BETA AT A REIGN OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTATUTIONS AND IN FACT THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS WE CAN’T GROW FAST ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH THE INTEREST.” ALL IT
TOOK WAS 18 HAWKEYES TO CREATE NOT JUST A FRATERNITY…BUT ALSO A SUPPORT SYSTEM. XAVIER ROMANO/ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: “I’M NOT SURE THEY HAD THE SENSE THAT THEY WERE CREATING THIS NATIONAL JOGGER KNO*FROM COAST TO COAST, I THINK THEY WERE REALLY FOUCSED ON IOWA CITY BUT IT SAYS VOLUMES ABOUT THEIR VISION.” THE BETAS
PRINCIPLES CONSIST OF BROTHERHOOD, SCHOLARSHIP, COMMUNITY SERVICE AND CULTURAL AWARENESS WHICH IS WHAT CAUGHT JOSE PANGELINAN’S EYE WHILE HE WAS SEARCHING FOR FRATERNITIES. JOSE PANGELINAN/ “THE IMPACT THAT THEY HAD ON ME ON THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY AND ALSO ON THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY REALLY SHOWED ME WHAT I COULD GET INVOLVED WITH.” [NATS: CHANTS] SIGMA
LAMBDA BETA HAS LATINO ORIGINS BUT IS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST CULTURAL DIVERSE FRATERNITIES IN THE GREEK FAMILY. XAVIER ROMANO/ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: “THEY ARE IN IT TOGETHER AND THEY SUCCEED TOGETHER AND OR NOT AND FORTUNATLE* THIS IS A GROUP THAT CHOOSES TO RAISE THE BAR AS THEY MOVE FORWARD.”
SIGMA LAMBDA BETAS HAS 120 CHAPTERS FROM COAST TO COAST IN 30 STATES IS STILL GROWING. IN THE STUDIO KARLA SOSA LOCAL 4 NEWS “(ANNOUNCER) NOW, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST ANDY MCCRAY, WITH YOUR LOCAL PINPOINT FORECAST.” ANDY:WE HAD A LOT OF SUNSHINE AGAIN TODAY AND THERE IS MORE
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