Sunday afternoon, the brothers of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated (LUL), sat by the main stairs of Usdan, offering to exchange Latino desserts for clothes to be donated to The Salvation Army.

“People came in with clothing, and others came asking about it, and thought it was really cool,” said Harold Flores ’09, vice president of the University’s Sigma Chapter of LUL. “If they didn’t have clothing at the time, they gave money, and said they would come back next week.”

Monetary donations will go to a relief fund for the earthquake that struck Peru in mid-August. LUL’s trade-off will happen every Sunday of November—just one of its many community service efforts.

Flores described the overarching goal of LUL.

“A fraternity would inspire brotherhood among Latinos and perhaps spark activity, which would foster positive images for the very men who seemed so invisible,” he said. “The idea was to make an organization consisting mainly of Latino men whose focus would be on community service, academics, and social events.”

Flores is also president of the Ethnic Greek Council (EGC), which is made up of LUL and the other five Divine Nine fraternities/sororities present on campus. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated all have “metro chapters” in the Connecticut area that include members from Wesleyan, as well as other nearby universities.

Since these societies don’t rely on alumni funding the way Greek organizations do—nor can they rely on affiliate schools because members are exclusively one gender—they have to look elsewhere for money.

In order to address this, the EGC was founded in the fall of 2003. Although each individual society is still registered with the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA), the EGC provides funding and unity.

“The EGC helps ethnic Greek organizations get funding for their respective programs by co-sponsoring them,” Flores said. “Our goal is to also help facilitate these organizations’ programs and events.”

While money from the EGC can be used for ethnic Greek programs hosted at the University, chapter-wide programs are often funded by money saved up from fundraising.

“These are not-for-profit organizations,” said Adeneiki Williams ’10, a member of Zeta Phi Beta. “You’re learning business skills all the time.”

Besides its monetary role, the EGC also helps unite the University’s ethnic organizations, meeting monthly to coordinate each group’s events.

“[The EGC] allows us to know what each organization is doing on campus,” said Alaina Gibbs ’09, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) who also serves as the public relations chair for the EGC.

Community service is also a key focus for organizations. One recent AKA programs involved taking fifth- and sixth-grade students from Traverse Square to campus computer labs to teach Internet safety skills.

“We want to see people come to college,” Williams said. “That’s the point of this.”

The EGC also works together to plans events of its own, such as “Greek 101,” which introduces the ethnic fraternities and sororities to the greater University community, and the EGC Barbeque, which is co-sponsored with other student groups.

“It helps to get rid of some of the competitive rivalry between organizations,” said Jamil Alexis ’10, president of LUL.

Although the Divine Nine were founded as historically black fraternities and sororities, mostly at the beginning of the 20th century, and LUL was founded as historically Hispanic in the 1970s, neither discriminates based on race or ethnicity. In fact, one of LUL’s founding fathers was an Italian American, and these ethnic organizations currently include members of all identities.

Despite their different origins, both the Divine Nine and LUL are strictly anti-hazing and anti-substance abuse.

“We pride ourselves in having very strict anti-hazing policies,” Flores said. “We feel that hazing and humiliation is not the proper way to create and foster brotherhood. To that effect, drinking and any other form of substance abuse is strictly prohibited in our process: anyone involved in the process cannot be under the influence of any substances.”

Williams explained a similar process for Zeta Phi Beta, called “Membership Intake.”

“[The upperclassmen] reach out to you,” she said. “You have them as mentors and for advice.”

According to Gibbs, events such as Boule (held every two years in recognition of each organization’s anniversary) inspire similar feelings of camaraderie among AKA members.

“Organizations do build a link between the older generation and us,” Gibbs said. “It’s all about service and reaching out to the community. The reason they were founded was to serve a community. The goals haven’t changed.”

Williams agreed, adding that Zeta Phi Beta has also contributed to her personal growth.

“It’s also about teaching you to be a good citizen,” she said. “I’ve become a better person since becoming a Zeta. It enhances your strengths. It builds you up. These organizations build leaders.”