ΣΛΓ

Phi Chapter History

 

Former Western Michigan Student, Trisha Wells, attended the 1995 United States Hispanic Leadership Conference where she attained informative literature about Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority. Miss Wells was interested in establishing a chapter at WMU and proceeded to send a letter requesting more information. Mid-winter semester of 1996 Miss.Wells was experiencing personal problems which did not allow her to take on the initiative of organizing a group of highly motivated, involved, and aspring women. The procedural information was then passed on to Maria Isabel Garza, an active member of the Hispanic Student Organization, known today on WMU's campus as the Latino Student Alliance.

 

In the winter of 1996, Miss Garza proposed the idea of becoming a Sigma Lambda Gamma chapter and introduced the sorority’s five founding principles of Moral and Ethics, Cultural Awareness, Academics, Social Interaction and Community Service to the women of the Hispanic Student Organization. The original interested women, named Maria Isabel Garza, Olga Lupe Munguia, Soluna Martinez, Michelle Martin de Figueroa, Eliamar Reyna and Stella Morado as advisor, exemplified a particular responsiveness to the national sorority’s ideals. During the fall semester of 1996 the women had completed the requirements to apply for colony status and in October they became a colony of Sigma Lambda Gamma.

Through hard work and determination the colony of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority at Western Michigan University became the eleventh sorority to participate with the National Panhellenic Council on campus. After six months of working diligently to fulfill the requirements to establish our chapter, on April 6, 1997 we were established as the Phi chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Incorporated.

 

The chapter founders include Imelda Reyes-Phetteplace, Cynthia-Marie Nicholson, Soluna Martinez, Michelle Martin de Figueroa, Michele Beckman, Olga Lupe Munguia and Maria Isabel Garza; and the first associate line includes Karen Snyder, Melinda Lopez, Heidi Wills and Victoria Dominguez.