Johnson C. Smith Becomes First HBCU to Admit a Latino Fraternity - Higher Education

Johnson C. Smith Becomes First HBCU to Admit a Latino Fraternity - Higher Education: It may have been just a matter of time. As historically Black colleges and universities promote diversity by recruiting students from various racial and cultural backgrounds, at some point these students would want to establish their own social organizations.

At Johnson C. Smith University, an HBCU in Charlotte, N.C., six Latino students decided the time was right to organize a fraternity. So they began a chapter of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, which was recently accepted by the university, making JCSU the first HBCU to admit a nationally recognized Latino fraternity to its campus.

The young men, who are all pursuing degrees in science, engineering and math disciplines, say their common academic pursuits led them to bond and eventually to discuss the idea of creating a fraternity.