About Us...

La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated was established on February 19, 1982 in order to address the shortcomings of academic institutions in meeting and addressing the needs of Latino students in higher education. Founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, La Unidad Latina primarily seeks to take a leadership role in meeting the needs of the Latino community through cultural awareness, community service, and promotion of the Latino culture and people.

From its inception, La Unidad Latina has maintained a commitment to increasing educational opportunities for all Latinos. In the academic realm, La Unidad Latina does this by assisting college and university administrations in the recruitment and retention of Latinos and other underrepresented groups.

Within the academic realm, we continually strive to enlarge the representation of Latinos in higher education, both as faculty members and as students. Understanding that recruitment is only half of the problem that needs to be addressed, we also put a strong emphasis on programs that aid the retention, guidance, and eventually, the completion of each student's degree program.

In the cultural arena, every chapter of La Unidad Latina dedicates itself to exploring and propagating the vast richness of the Latino heritage and culture. By sharing the treasures and teachings of our past, both among ourselves and with those in the more general community around us, we earn a respect for, and an understanding of, ourselves, which is often lacking. In addition, we ensure that as we advance and grow as students of a much larger world, we do not forget the roots from which we came.

As an organization, we understand that the strength of many is often better than that of one, especially when the strength is exerted towards one common goal. As a result, we focus strongly on serving our community. Providing services to those in need, ranging in scope from simple volunteer work to extensive fund raising functions, and from thorough research to simple fact finding, we seek to provide an immediate return on the investment made in us by the community and our family that has put us where we are now.

Finally, it is undeniable that La Unidad Latina also functions as a social organization. However, it does so in a way that no other organization has ever done before; by providing an atmosphere in which each Hermano can be himself and relate to others that share similar backgrounds and experiences; by providing a circle of people willing to show care and concern and extend support and most importantly, by providing a sense of familia that allows every brother the chance to have a place where he can genuinely say that he feels at home, a place where the term "brother" is more than a label. La Unidad Latina redefines the college social scene and gives the Latino his own place within it.

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