My name is Sterling Ortiz, the president of the Multicultural Greek Council, and I’m proud of my heritage.

When I first arrived in Evanston in fall 2018, one of my goals was to connect with my Puerto Rican heritage. I am a Hungarian in every way and was raised on traditions. On the other hand, I bear a Puerto Rican’s last name, Ortiz, but not the knowledge and heritage I craved. My father’s family was Puerto Rican, but I didn’t know him well. I was young when he died, and the heritage he lived and loved remained inaccessible to me.

Three years later, I can finally say that I feel Puerto Rican. Materially, I’ve begun to learn Spanish, read about my people’s history, and learned how to make coquito and other historic Puerto Rican foods. When recalling my journey to this point, I can confidently say that my multicultural fraternity, Omega Delta Phi, and the Multicultural Greek Council at Northwestern empowered me to become the man I am today. Meeting other Latinos in the council from all different backgrounds — from Mexicans to Salvadorans to, of course, other Puerto Ricans — reminded me that I’m not alone in my desire for ethnic pride in a world where we are minorities.

When you join a chapter in the Multicultural Greek Council, whether that be a Latine-interest or Asian-interest chapter, you join a growing and vibrant community, now more so than ever. Our branches continued to fight and advocate for our communities through the pandemic, while other similar organizations on campus hid under the tables. We are the only Greek council here to have every chapter initiate new members during the past school year, and we frequently add new branches to our tree. Every councilmember knows that each of us does better when we all do better. We also know that the best years for the council are ahead of us, and we invite you to be part of our future.

You can know us as members, but each person has a proud life, where we do great things and are great people. There are alumni of my chapter, the Alpha Alpha chapter of Omega Delta Phi, who work as lawyers and civil servants, doctors, teachers and other noble professions. 

Our alumni around the country serve as senators, mayors, City Council members, and judges. Chicago’s Aarón Ortíz, one of my brothers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, proudly represents the 1st District in the Illinois House of Representatives and leads the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. This level of excellence is what our chapters produce around the country.

NU’s Multicultural Greek Council promises you our commitment to elevating heritages that represent every corner of the globe. The days of NU being a haven for White Americans buying their degrees are over, thank the Lord. The class of 2024, the latest undergraduate class we have demographics for, is 26.1% Asian, 10% Black and 15.6% Hispanic or Latine. Those numbers would terrify NU leaders in the 1900s, but we in the council revel in this diversity and seek to elevate our peers by giving them a voice and putting them in positions to succeed. 

I would be remiss not to address the nationwide movement to abolish Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association chapters. While activists at NU have, in large part, excused MGC chapters from their watchful eye, the council and I know that being Multicultural Greek is not akin to sainthood. We constantly strive to improve ourselves and have had several community dialogues regarding essential topics like racism and sexual violence. We hold new organizations attempting to join the council in high standards by asking them to undergo training regarding the many issues that IFC and PHA perpetuated and enabled for so long. 

These are some of the same issues that affect us. My chapter of Omega Delta Phi worked with our council advisor and the Center for Awareness, Response and Education over the past year to craft a social justice curriculum — one mandated for all prospective members and active brothers once a year and tackles sexual violence, racism, and classism. I know my chapter and the council prioritizes trying to stay modernly educated. While the Abolish Greek Life movement at NU hasn’t directly impacted us, it has made us reflect on ways to better ourselves, and change our recruitment designs to ensure we’re not perpetuating or enabling any discrimination.

If you read this communication and agree with the Multicultural Greek Council’s values, I invite you to research us on the school’s website or Instagram. If you are an existing member, then I’m glad to have you in the realm, and I know we can work together towards a better campus. We have a mandate, as a Multicultural Greek Council at a top 10 university, to lead by example and bring the future now. Let us go forth in peace.

Sterling Ortiz is a SESP fourth-year. You can contact him at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.