OSU is home to diversity and affiliation, and here is where five culturally diverse men found a common goal: establishing a chapter of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. Lambda Theta Phi is an organization that provides the Latino college student the opportunity to be part of a family with a mission to cultivate a spirit of brotherhood, to value an education, to promote unity among all Latinos, to be proud of and cherish Latino heritage, to assert roles of leadership, to develop character, to practice chivalry, and to serve mankind. With the ideals of raising the social and cultural conscience of the Latino male college student, they have become "The Founding Brothers of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. at The Ohio State University” and these are their stories:
• Tayron Suarez is a non-traditional student at OSU. He is pursuing a B.A. in Psychology with plans on pursuing his master's in Organizational Psychology. “As a senior, it has not been easy to participate in many of the activities and events sponsored by the university,” said Tayron. “Being part of the fraternity’s interest group has given me the opportunity to be part of something meaningful—a brotherhood—and has allowed me to participate in the OSU Greek society.” Tayron is Puerto Rican (Boricua) by birth but his family resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He hopes to bring knowledge and experience, pride and perseverance, and loyalty and respect to help lead the next generation of Latino leaders at OSU.
• Miguel Guevara is a freshman majoring in Political Science. He is originally from Houston, Texas and back home he is used to a very strong Latino presence, culture, and customs. When he arrived at OSU, the first thing he looked for was a Latino community that could give him the identity, passion, and motivation to serve others. All he really desired was that reconnection to his Latino culture so he could share it with others here at OSU. Luckily, he found his connection through Lambda Theta Phi and was able to overcome the difficulty of being homesick despite being far away from home for the first time.
• Kevin Turner is an Architecture student from Colombia with a heightened sense of style and a penchant for the controversial. Now in his second year at OSU he has recently moved to the Short North area and confessed that during his time here he has “lost touch with his culture” somewhat. “There isn't an immense population of Latinos at OSU,” he says, and admits that “it's difficult to find those you have something in common with besides a loosely similar cultural background.” Much like the rest of the founding brothers of Lambda Theta Phi, he's happy to have found a group of admirable men that can provide him with the brotherhood that he needed. He quotes, “I am an only child, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better than to have four other brothers who support me at all times.”
• David Bueno is a freshman Engineering Physics major of Dominican descent. He was born and raised in the most diverse county in the world, Queens, New York. His family played an important role in preserving the Spanish language and culture throughout his life. When David arrived at Ohio State, there was a missing link to his cultural side that influenced him so much since birth. Looking for a Latino connection in a predominantly white (2 percent Hispanic) university was extremely difficult, but he then found a Lambda Theta Phi brother, David Rodriguez, a medical student at OSU, who informed him of the opportunity to establish the first Latino male fraternity on this campus. Since then he has been extremely interested in helping construct the first all-male Latino fraternity at Ohio State.
• Christian Rivera is Puerto Rican and a senior in Criminology from Westerville, Ohio. He was born in Rochester, New York and has two brothers, David and Camron. He plans to attend law school after graduating from Ohio State. What originally got him interested in Lambda Theta Phi was meeting another brother of Lambda Theta Phi, Renzo Manay, who was a graduate student at the School of Educational Policy and Leadership. Christian was fascinated with the fact that Lambda Theta Phi was the first Latino fraternity to be established in the United States, the first to have been acknowledged in a Congressional Resolution, and the first to have ever documented and published its history. Furthermore, Christian was motivated by the fact that he would help establish the first chapter in the State of Ohio. What he hopes to gain from this fraternity is brotherhood, identity, and the promotion of Latino culture and diversity throughout the university.
Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. at The Ohio State University is composed of a diverse group of Latino students; each individual possesses distinctive backgrounds, experiences and aspirations, yet they each share the same enthusiasm of fostering Latino brotherhood, unity, culture, and pride. Renato Manay, also a member of Lambda Theta Phi and currently a law student at Ohio State, states that “Lambda Theta Phi is a Latino fraternity that instills members with the desire to become leaders, to serve their respective communities, and to strive for academic success in order to become role models for future generations.” |
