Tradition, Chivalry, Para Siempre: How UGA’s Latin Greek Life transcends cultural barriers to do good

Latin American students at the University of Georgia are few and far between. According to data from 2023, Hispanic or Latino students make up just about 5.8% of undergraduates and 5.6% of graduates at UGA. Despite this, students from Latin American backgrounds make their mark on campus in many ways.

One way is through Greek life. As of 2023, of the 31,514 undergraduate students on campus, nearly 10,000 participated in Greek life (32%). Greek life can be seen as central to UGA — students involved have raised $1.6 million for philanthropic purposes and contributed 108,474 service hours through volunteering.

For some Latin American students, this is where they find community. Three Latin Greek organizations exist on campus: La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. and Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.

“We kind of bring a taste of home for a lot of these students that feel alienated sometimes at the University of Georgia,” Bryan Acevedo Sierra, event coordinator of UGA’s Beta Tau Chapter of LUL, said. “Part of what we do is try to unite [them].”