Students develop new sorority
By Roxanna Latifi
Skiff Staff

A new voice is being heard on campus, and it’s Chi Upsilon Sigma, the most recent addition to TCU’s Greek community.

Eugenia Redondo, a junior radio-TV-film major, researched for one month before deciding to bring CUS to the university.

“I wanted to bring something different to campus to avoid the stereotypical view of Latinos, and I knew I could do that through CUS,” Redondo said.

Chapters have been established in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Texas and Connecticut. Chi Upsilon Sigma is the first National Latin Sorority on campus.

Chi Upsilon Sigma stands for ‘Corazones Unidos Siempre’ or ‘Hearts United Always.’ CUS, established in 1980, is one of the oldest Latin sororities in the nation and currently has about 500 members. The TCU chapter currently has two members.

Redondo did not join any of the previously established sororities on campus.

“I didn’t feel that I was going to be able to really relate to any of the other sororities already on campus. I needed something different, something I wanted to associated myself with,” she said.

Lisa Cano, TCU’s CUS president, said she felt that going Greek was something she wanted to do but felt the options at TCU were not right for her.

“I seriously started off not wanting to go Greek but I think it was more of a matter of finding my place, and the options here on campus were not the ones I saw myself in,” said Cano, a junior management marketing major. “I knew I wanted to be Greek but I just didn’t want to limit myself to the ones here at TCU.”

Cano is a strong believer in educating women, and was the deciding factor for bringing CUS to TCU. When bringing a new Greek organization to TCU, Redondo and Cano said TCU supported them every step of the way.

“Anything we needed, they (TCU faculty) were there to help us out with,” said Redondo.

Redondo said to be national, the organization must have at least five chapters outside of the state it was founded in and be recognized under an umbrella organization, such as the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations.

Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Tiffany Abbott said she believes having a nationally recognized Latina sorority on campus is important, because it gives female students another opportunity in which to explore a fraternal experience.

“I know TCU has been positively affected with Chi Upsilon Sigma sorority,” she said. “Many women have expressed interest in their organization, which is a positive sign of increasing the amount of women in the sorority.”

Cano said that because she and Redondo are juniors and the sorority was just established last spring, CUS will take its time to perfect its TCU chapter.

“We hope to have our chapter grow and co-program with the other organizations on campus,” Cano said. “(Because we are already juniors) we hope to lay a strong foundation for the girls who will follow after us.”