“We don’t believe in check writing,” McCormick junior Benjamin Hernandez said of his fraternity’s philanthropic endeavors. “We sacrifice hours and sweat for service.”

Hernandez has been a member of Omega Delta Phi, NU’s traditionally Latino fraternity, since the winter of his freshman year. After beginning the traditional rush process, Hernandez decided it wasn’t quite the right fit.

“I’m not really a frat person,” Hernandez said. “I met some cool people, but I found that most were in it for the wrong reasons. There’s a lot of socio-economic segregation, and that turned me off.”

According to Hernandez, pledges in Omega Delta Phi are expected to hold immediate leadership positions. He has been social chairman for about two years.

“One of our main things is bridging gaps,” Hernandez said. “We did a couple of barbeques last year with Fiji, and we’ve done dinners with Chi O, Delta Sigma Theta and Lambda Pi Epsilon.”

Unlike other fraternities on campus, Hernandez said, ODPhi does not have open rush because it’s difficult to attract devoted people that way. Instead, potential pledges get to know active fraternity members and receive bids through interviews.

“We look for people with proven initiative and good leadership skills, academics, service, and character,” Hernandez said.

Although most of the founding members of Omega Delta Phi were Latino and the organization is a part of the Multicultural Greek Council, Hernandez said the group is very diverse.

Members come together to “work on a common vision of community service,” and students from any ethnic background are welcome.

“Yeah, my last name is Hernandez, but my dad is Mexican and Japanese and my mom is Jewish,” Hernandez said. “(ODPhi) has helped me to become more open to different experiences.”

ODPhi also boasts the most community service per member of any fraternity on campus, requiring 20 to 30 hours per quarter. Vice president and service co-chairman Omar Lopez said ODPhi is a very service-based organization.

“We would volunteer at St. Nick’s Church in Evanston every Friday, tutoring and hanging out with at-risk kids from neighborhoods with a lot of gang violence,” said Lopez, a McCormick junior. “They came there to stay off the streets.”

Members volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and at Sheil Catholic Center as well. The organization has also been heavily involved in several fundraisers for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

“Being a part of ODPhi has really humbled me,” Lopez said. “I was under the assumption that most everybody in Evanston was wealthy. I had no idea the struggle that people were going through.”

Sigma Lambda Gamma, a historically Latina sorority, began nationally in 1990, according to Cherise Lopez, Medill junior and president of NU’s chapter.

Its annual founders’ week will occur from Feb. 13 to 19, and NU’s chapter has a variety of events planned that are open to everyone.

“We’re doing some community service, holding a sexual education workshop, and having a cultural festival in which a professor will speak about the Caribbean islands,” Lopez said.

Lambda Theta Alpha is the first and largest nationally recognized sorority to cater to Latinas.

Chen