With all the hustle and bustle of the booths in the library quad the first weeks of school, students not only have a hard time getting to classes, but they have to sort out all the symbols that are brightly displayed and sometimes shoved in their hands.

What’s the difference between a Sigma and an Epsilon and why do so many people at some of the booths look the same?

Junior criminal justice major Krystin Nunez is the president of Sigma Omega Nu, a Latina interest sorority on campus.

“We are a young sorority, but growing larger and stronger as each year passes by,” Nunez said.Sigma Omega Nu was established at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1996 by eight Latina women who felt a strong need for a Latina voice, according to their chapter Web site.

The Sacramento State chapter that opened in July 2000 is the only other chapter of Sigma Omega Nu.

Nu Alpha Kappa Fraternity was also started at Cal Poly and opened at Sac State in 1996. Former NAK President Andres Neblina said his fraternity’s purpose is to provide a family away from home.

“Most of us are the first out of our family to go to college so when you see other people similar to you, you feel more comfortable,” Neblina said.

According to the NAK chapter Web site, NAK was formed to “help Latino students overcome the culture shock experienced when arriving at a predominantly Anglo university.”

Nunez’s sorority embraces the same family oriented focus.

“We are a home away from home. We are a support group to many first generation students and we stride to help members in our sorority as well as outside,” Nunez said.

Senior Neblina, a business and finance major with a minor in Spanish, said although NAK is a Chicano interest fraternity and has a mostly Chicano membership, they allow all ethnicities to join.

Neblina said Sac State is actually the least diverse chapter out of all of them. NAK had a Swedish exchange-student at San Diego State University.

Sigma Omega Nu also extends membership to non-Latinas.

“Although we are a Latina Interest Sorority we do not discriminate,” Nunez said.

Some cultural organizations don’t feel support from the campus in their activities and recruitment periods.

Nunez thinks the campus could be more helpful, like they are for Panhellenic and the InterFraternity Council, in making new students aware of culturally based Greek organizations.

“As an individual, I think the school is welcoming because they offer so many clubs and organizations for what ever you’re into,” Neblina said.

Still, Neblina and many others felt that those clubs and organizations weren’t very welcomed and needed a bigger organization to represent them.

“That’s why we started the United Sorority and Fraternity Council,” Neblina said. “We wanted a bigger voice representing the groups to show that we are organized.”

The United Sorority and Fraternity Council was founded in 2003 “to assist culturally diverse sororities and fraternities in the achievement of their noble purposes and to provide a forum for the regulation of chapter interactions” according to the Student Activities Office Web site.

Senior interior design major and Chinese-American Kat Lew is the president of Sigma Omicron Pi. The sorority has been at Sac State since 1992 and is a part of the United Sorority Fraternity Council. Although they are an Asian-American interest sorority, they invite all ethnicities to join.The purpose of Sigma Omicron Pi is to promote lifelong friendship, unity, leadership and service, Lew said.

Although the traditionally white fraternities and sororities are becoming increasingly diverse, many minority students still flock to Greek organizations that are familiar.

“I wasn’t going to join anything and then I got handed a flyer in the quad one day that showed Mexican heritage,” Neblina said. “I met the guys and they acted like my friends from back home.”Nunez also found an organization that focused on her heritage to be more appealing than others.

“I joined Sigma Omega Nu because I felt it fit my personal needs; I felt more of a connection with the members and felt I could relate much more than if I had joined a historically white sorority,” Nunez said.

Neblina thinks that most people tend to stick to what they are used to.

“Even Mexicans that I know in other traditionally white fraternities hung out with those kinds of people in high school,” Neblina said. “When you join a group, you want to be accepted.”

Lew said that she never really looked into other options for sororities.

“My sister was in the same sorority at a different school and she said, ‘be open to everything,'” Lew said. “(Sigma Omicron Pi) were the one sorority that approached me. I don’t go to any rush events for any other sororities because I felt a good fit with (Sigma Omicron Pi).”

Although Neblina thinks the networking in traditional fraternities is more useful because of the amount of resources, he says there is still room for growth.

“You gain a lot of skills, especially organizational skills and you learn how to deal with people,” Neblina said. “Just because we’re all Latinos doesn’t mean we’re going get along.”

In addition to the six Panhellenic sororities on campus, Sac State recognizes three National Pan-Hellenic and seven sororities in the United Sorority Fraternity Council.

“I feel the campus is welcoming to our organization just because we were able to be recognized on campus as a sorority,” Nunez said. “I haven’t had any encounters yet where I didn’t feel that our organization was (recognized).”

Lew said she didn’t think groups that want to be active on campus deal with discrimination.

According to the Student Activities Office, Sac State recognizes two National Pan-Hellenic fraternities, six United Sorority Fraternity Council fraternities and nine InterFraternity Council organizations on campus.

Some minority organizations feel that they don’t get all the attention that the traditional Greeks do.

“Many minority organizations participate in the Cesar Chavez Community Service day sponsored by Associated Students Inc.; we are one of those organizations,” Nunez said.

?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”

Elizabeth Wilson can be reached at [email protected]