UNO Founders
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During the spring of 2006, Claudia Cruz attended an event being
held at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. There she met Noemy Rodriguez
(Casteñeda), a sister of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. When she
transferred to the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the fall of 2007, she
decided to begin attempting to establish a chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma and
recruited other like-minded women. In that semester, the women sought the
council of Maria Garza, a founder of Phi Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma and a
faculty member at UNO. After meeting with the women, she chose to accept the
position of their advisor.
In September of 2007, the interest group was officially recognized
as Women for a Multicultural Campus (WMC). As the semester progressed, the
interest group underwent many changes in its membership eventually leaving only
4 of the women as the semester came to a close.
From the spring of 2008 until fall 2009 WMC continued to hold
regular meetings and recruit members. On campus, WMC was fairly inactive,
choosing to focus internally to strengthen the group’s infrastructure instead
of holding public events. In the spring of 2009, the interest group underwent
many changes with membership and in its name; it became known as L.O.V.E.
(Ladies of Various Ethnicities.) This name was representative of a fresh
beginning with only five women remaining to carry on the goals of L.O.V.E. At
the end of the spring semester, L.O.V.E. had become completely inactive. Only
two of the original women remained.
Over the summer of 2009, these women made one last attempt at establishing a chapter at UNO, by attempting massive recruitment as the fall semester began. By using different recruiting methods, the women captured the interest of over 20 new women, as well as the return of previous members.
On December 2, 2009, L.O.V.E. presented to UNO’s campus with the
aid of Sigma Lambda Gamma’s headquarters staff, as a result, the Multicultural
Greek Council formally invited L.O.V.E. to join their council on February 10,
2010. Soon after, Sigma Lambda Gamma Headquarters approved L.O.V.E. as a colony
on April 29, 2010 with 10 women.
On October 9, 2010, 12:57:01 am, 10 women were inducted with an expansion advisory committee composed of Andrea Avery, Nina Batenhorst, Noemy Casteñeda and their faculty advisor Maria Garza. On December 19, 2010 11:59:42 pm only 7 women were inducted and formed the A.L. F.I.N. Founding line of UNO Colony. These women were, Claudia Cruz, Paige Miles, Michelle Perez, Nathalie Diaz, Katherine Mac-Holmes, Fabiola Nomenyo, and Mary Bencker.
The UNO Colony got chartered at the University of Nebraska
Omaha with the aid of colony advisor Elizabeth Blanco, from Phi Chapter. Officially the UNO Gammas became the Iota Epsilon
Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. on October 4, 2012 at 7:20 pm.
