Few campus organizations are more unified than La Unidad Latina. When Genaro Bugarin, Gerardo Carfagno, Ali Rashid and Omar Rashid graduated last year, Yovany Jerez '03 became the sole member of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity.
Dartmouth's chapter of LUL was founded in 1998 to address the community needs of Latino men, joining the ranks of a national organization with over 500 members from 30 schools. LUL at Dartmouth has had 10 members over the course of its three-year history, and its path has never been conventional.
As Rolando Lopez '00, one of the founding "hermanos," said in 1998, "it's not really about numbers " it's more about people who are dedicated."
Yovany Jerez is proud to carry the mantle of his fraternity, noting that he represents the only chance that the organization will survive at Dartmouth. While he would like to recruit more members, he maintains that LUL's one-member status does not mean that La Unidad Latina will start throwing parties and dinners to recruit new members.
"We've never been the typical fraternity," Jerez said. "We focus on community and support, not numbers. It would hurt me to see it extinguished after I graduate, but we don't want members that don't reflect appropriately what we're all about."
This year it seems particularly unlikely that the organization will grow. Jerez will be off Winter term, and will be unable to rush new members.
"It's unfortunate," he said, "because delaying rush has been particularly affecting us and other underrepresented organizations. The college advocates diversity, yet by not addressing our concerns and treating us as one of the bigger frats, that aren't hurt as much by delayed rush, we are pretty much slowly being disintegrated and marginalized even further."
What makes Lambda Upsilon Lambda special, according to Jerez, is the focus on reaching out to the community and to Latino students in general. Jerez is active in Student Assembly, the 2003 Class Council, the Greek Leaders Council and the Tucker Foundation.
While he may not have fraternity brothers (or "hermanos") currently on campus, he did bring his "little brother" Nick Douglas from the Big Brother/Big Sister outreach program to his interview with The Dartmouth.
It's easy to understand why he would need to double-task this week. Jerez is planning the third annual Noche Dorada on Oct. 27, Lambda Upsilon Lambda's main outreach event. Jerez said that plans include a speaker, dinner and a live band.
"Part of it is celebrating the founding of this chapter," he said. "All the alums are coming back to show their support. But our biggest concentration is to do community outreach, promote diversity and transmit cultural awareness in our Dartmouth community."
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt said Lambda Upsilon Lambda, even with one member, will remain a functioning organization on campus as long as it meets the requirements as all other houses do.
Jerez hopes that the Greek Leaders Council and other fraternities continue to take his association seriously. "Sometimes they ask how many members I have, as though that's the way they want to be allocating respect for my opinion. That's not right. I'm here because I have an opinion that needs to be represented."
