Even though Karla Diaz considers herself “culturally Latina” — she learned to speak Spanish before English and visits her family in Central America every year — she decided early on that Northwestern’s Latina sororities were not for her.

“I’ve always had a diverse, multicultural group of friends,” said Diaz, a Weinberg sophomore. “I thought it would do myself an injustice to limit myself to just one community.”

Diaz said she also didn’t consider joining a Latina sorority because when rush events began, the Latina sororities hadn’t had their mixers yet and her friends were looking at the larger, “traditional” sororities.

“When you’re just a freshman you go on your first instinct and who you fit in with,” Diaz said.

Diaz eventually joined the sorority Delta Delta Delta, which she said was “exactly what I was looking for.”

“The environment of Tri Delt just resembles the environment I grew up in,” said Diaz, who attended a predominantly white high school in Los Angeles.

“I feel (my culture) is just another asset I bring to the house.”

Diaz’s decision to join a Tri Delt as the “natural” choice for her, and she said she appreciated not feeling pressured to join a Latina sorority by other Latino students.

Diaz never felt pressured by her parents to join a Latina sorority either, in part because her father joined Pi Kappa Alpha, even though he was born in Guatemala and was an activist for the Latino community, she said.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Diaz decided she could explore her heritage without joining a Latina sorority. Instead, she joined the Latino-interest student group Alianza last year and currently serves as treasurer.

Alianza has helped Diaz feel comfortable with other Latino students, but it wasn’t always that way.

When she first arrived at NU, Diaz found it intimidating to approach groups of students who were all one ethnicity, even her own.

Diaz said another reason she didn’t join a Latina sorority was to avoid perpetuating the “cliquiness” that originally separated her from other Latino students.

As a campus multicultural advocate, Diaz said she sees this tendency to “go to a place you feel most comfortable” among all minority groups, not just Latinos.

One friend Diaz made through Alianza, Weinberg sophomore Alicia Carrasquillo, said she joined the Latina sorority Lambda Theta Alpha because “they were a smaller tight-knit group I could relate to tradition-wise.”

Although Diaz joined a traditional sorority, she said she understands why Carrasquillo wanted to join a sorority of women who have shared her experiences.

But for Diaz, Alianza provides her with the same atmosphere. Because many of the students in the group have “that Hispanic influence in their lives,” they can sympathize with the “limitations” Diaz said she deals with as a member of the Latino community.

Those limitations could separate Diaz from her non-Latino friends. When she was 14, her parents wouldn’t let her see her boyfriend unsupervised, even though all of her other friends could.

But even if many of the women in Tri Delt may not have had a similar experience, Diaz said she still feels her sorority is as supportive as a Latina sorority would be.

“I don’t necessarily feel someone who is Latino will understand me better,” she said.

Medill junior Lilia Lopez, remembers “getting the sense that Tri Delt was really accepting of girls from different backgrounds,” when she was rushing.

Now that she is a member of Tri Delt, Lopez said, she loves “coming downstairs during dinner and hearing a different language.”

Diaz said said members of Tri Delt see their differences as an opportunity to learn from each other. For example, when Tri Delt members came back from studying abroad in Spain, they were excited to speak Spanish with Diaz and learn more about her culture.

Now that she can accommodate the various aspects of her culture through her sorority and Alianza, Diaz said she is excited to see more interaction between the NU’s various cultures.

She pointed to an international Greek barbecue Tri Delt participated in last year. The event was part of a program that joins student groups and organizations from Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council.

“It was great to see my friends from different communities interacting, having fun and sharing something,” Diaz said.

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Elizabeth Rome/The Daily Northwestern