About
Dedicated to building strong gentleman since 1986!
Sigma Lambda Beta
During the fall of 1985, Baltazar Mendoza-Madrigal began to explore the idea of establishing a Latino-based fraternity at the University of Iowa. Having seen the impact organizations like Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity had on their constituency, Mendoza-Madrigal knew something similar could be done for the Latino interest. Without knowing the impact he would have 29 years down the road, Baltazar starting doing research on this possibility.
After months of dedicated research, Mendoza-Madrigal called for a special meeting on March 7, 1986. Held at the Chicano Native American Cultural Center (now known as the Latino Native American Cultural Center), this meeting would bring together the Latino students to discuss the feasibility of creating a social fraternity that would focus on the Latino culture.
"The Latino community was divided among several social groups at the time," said Mendoza-Madrigal. The enthusiasm in favor of establishing a social fraternity that could help in unifying the community was so great that word started to spread quickly across the University of Iowa campus. Everyone knew that something great was about to take place. After much planning, the ideoplogy and philosophy of this new organization were finalized on April 4th, 1986. Henceforth, this day is recognized as the official founding date of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity at The University of Iowa.
After 29 years, our Fraternity has grown to over 100 collegiate entities spanning across 29 states from Coast to Coast. Moreover, our membership has expanded beyond our Hispanic-Latino origins making us one of the most culturally diverse Greek lettered organizations.
SLB UNT DALLAS
The University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) is the newest campus part of the
University of North Texas system and opened in 2010 as its own accredited institution. UNT Dallas is the only public institution in the city of Dallas, TX. Since the inception of UNT Dallas students have yearned to have Greek life on campus but the institution did not have the capacity to serve such organization. In the fall of 2013 interested students sought to bring Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. to campus but quickly encountered road blocks. The institution stated there was no space for Greek life and there was no personnel to look over the organizations. Then in the spring of 2014, the university started the process in seeking the options of Greek life on campus. This process was quite lengthy and required the presentation of various Greek lettered organizations.
In the early summer of 2014, members of the Dallas/Fort Worth Alumni Network:Brother Carlos E. Cruz ( Eta Alpha Chapter), Brother Isidoro Cano (Sigma Beta Chapter), Brother Christopher Richardson (Mu Delta Chapter) presented in front of the UNT Dallas Greek Life committee as one of the finalist of the Greek organizations to be invited to campus. In late summer the university announced their decision and the five organizations who were chosen to start the Greek Life at UNT Dallas. Fortunately, enough for us Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. was selected as the only Latino based Fraternity. The brothers of the Dallas /Ft. Worth network assisted and recruited at all the New Student Orientations in an effort to bring new members of Sigma Lambda Beta.
In the fall of 2014 there were eight interested members who created an interest group called Jags United. These eight members who stand as “Jags United” came from a distinct and unique background but all had a common interest in being part of SLB. They all met through various networking and brotherhood events via the Dallas/Ft. Worth Alumni Network and school events.
In an effort to complete the tasks at hand the interest group was re-recruiting other members to join. This experience served as pivotal moment for all the parties involved and the work it takes to build a new organization on campus. At this point Jags United set up various meetings and scheduled community service, cultural awareness, bonding, and fundraising events on campus. In the following weeks Jags United built a stronger bond in the Office of Student Life and quickly got involved on campus activities. They were effective in completing and delivering such events as the: voter registration drive, Dia de Los Muertos and the Las Llaves community event. With these events and tasks under their belt, the men of JAGS United were ready for their petition for Colony status with Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. In the late afternoon of March 5, 2015, the gentleman of JAGS United were given formal approval from national headquarters to start their educational process. Founding Brothers: Luis Macareno, Arturo Ochoa, Ivan Delgado, and Edgar Corral were the selected men to continue on their journey into the eternal Lambda light. On Friday, May 1, 2015 the founding line of The University of North Texas at Dallas crossed into the wonderful world of Lambda Beta. The Sigma Lambda Beta-Colony at UNT Dallas is the First Greek Lettered Organization on campus.