Multi-Cultural Greek Council Push for Diversity on Campus

By: Kara Harris

Arizona State University's Multicultural Greek Council is taking action to show the

importance of representation among students in efforts to diversify the campus.

“First of all by having diversity on any college campus is already a big win,” said Gabriel

Gamino, senior, member of Tau Psi Omega, ASU Multicultural Greek Council Vice President of

External Affairs.

The Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) consists of 13 chapters made of four fraternities

and nine sororities. The two newest sororities established during Fall 2017 were Alpha Phi

Gamma and Pi Lambda Chi.

“You show that there is more to college then just who you would consider being a

stereotypical college student. You know that there are minorities and international students so

that all plays into it,” said Gamino.

The chapters of MGC represent students from multiple communities including Native

American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ, Middle Eastern, African and Pacific Islander.

“We have seen an increase in people that join multicultural organizations and I think

that’s because we are building more of a bigger presence,” said Gamino.

There was a total of 49 students that joined in Fall 2016 semester and an additional 29

students joined in the following semester as new members in chapters within MGC according to

the ASU Greek Report 2016-2017. The overall retention rate for ASU new Greek members is 72

percent.
 “It definitely shows that diversity at ASU is growing,” said Gamino. “It shows that

students want to join multicultural organizations and there is organization across the country that

won't come to ASU for that reason.”

According to Gamino, there has been an increase in greek organizations wanting to

establish their chapters within ASU Greek life. There is a waiting list put in place to keep track

of chapters wishing to be found on campus.

“I think that a lot of people that go IFC [interfraternity council] or Panhellenic because

they have the stereotypes from movies that they think, ‘Oh, this is what a fraternity-sorority is.’

People that tend to go multicultural are in it more for the support of fellow first-generation

college students that are going through what they are going through, for the academics, for the

community service because that is what a lot of the multicultural organizations are focused on,”

said Gamino.

The average cumulative GPA for MGC was 3.09 for Spring 2017 reported by the ASU

Greek Report 2016-2017. The MGC chapter with the highest GPA was Gamma Rho Lambda

with a GPA of 3.44 for Fall 2016 and Alpha Pi Omega with a GPA of 3.51 for Spring 2016.

“We are a little bit different,” said Gamino. “We tend to focus on academics, community

service and impacting our communities in better ways. So in being role models for those to come

and showing that minorities and those that might not have the same opportunities as others to

come to college to make a difference.”

The incorporation of community service and helping others within their communities is a

key area of focus for chapters within MGC. The MGC chapter with the highest number of

community services hours during Spring 2017 semester was Tau Si Omega with a total of 889

hours reported by the ASU Greek Report 2016-2017.

 “We want to make sure that the students that join not only have fun and are social but that

they succeed and that they achieve their academic dreams and they graduate on time and pursue

their careers and goals that they want to pursue once they are out of Arizona State,” said

Gamino.

A reported 4,130 out of 17,211 students were minorities that graduated during the year of

2015 according to ASU Office of Inclusion and Community Engagement. The report showed an

increase in minorities students compared to the 2002 reports that totaled 1,954 students out of

10,660.

“We definitely want a lot of events that show the diversity on campus. I think that the

multicultural greek council has taken steps to make that happen, so we aren't just standing

around waiting for someone to do it for us. We are taking the initiative to go ahead and do it,”

said Gamino.

According to Gamino, MGC has met with numerous campus organizations specifically

those within the language departments within ASU to help create events that can be used to

invite students that may feel out of place on the university.

“We have this thing called ‘MGC Week’ Multi-Greek Council Week, where we highlight

what being a multicultural organization member is. One of our events is the cultural showcase

and during that event members of our organizations show something from their culture and teach

us about it,” said Gamino.

The 2017 MGC week was held October 16- 21st and was comprised of daily events

centered around fundraising, graduate workshops, and culture showcases.

 “For example, for this past showcase, we had a brother of Tau Psi Omega fraternity, who

is from India, teach us about his culture and about his attire and his dress. It’s events like that

make us aware that there is diversity here,” said Gamino.

According to Gamino, this week allows students to become informed about other cultures

and may even help to dissolve previous stereotypes and or prejudices.

“Other events such as those put on by El Concilio and other organizations which the

latest one was ‘Aventura Cultural’ which is a backpacking event across Latin America. It shows

that being Hispanic doesn’t just mean being from Mexico, but that you can be from Spain and

identify as Hispanic, from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil,” said Gamino.

Similar Aventura Cultural, ASU has numerous organizations that host cultural events

such as foreign film screenings, musical performances and or study abroad opportunities. In fact,

ASU study abroad office offers diversity scholarships to students wishing to study in countries

outside of the U.S. up to $2,000.

“Events like that show the diversity and shows that we aren't waiting for someone else to

do it for us, organizations that help minority students are doing it ourselves because we want to

make sure that we put that presence out there,” said Gamino.

Other Greek organizations similar to MGC include the National Association of Latino

Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and Professional

Fraternity Council (PFC).

“Definitely it has taught me that there are people all over the world, people that don’t

agree with me, have different ideologies than I do but that I have to keep an open mind. At the

end of the day we are all humans and deserve the same respect and quality of education that

Arizona State offers,” said Gamino when asked how being apart of MGC has impacted him.