RADFORD Va.
Stung by slurs when he arrived on campus as a freshman, Yanil Escobar is spearheading an effort to have the first Hispanic fraternity chartered at Radford University.
“These organizations gave students a sense of home,” said Escobar, now a junior and a Virginia native of Nicaraguan heritage. This is particularly true in rural areas, such as Radford, he said.
In 2003, RU reported a 1.7 percent Hispanic student population to the state’s Council of Higher Education. In 2005, the percentage had grown to 2.3 percent, or nearly 60 students. The latest numbers from last fall show a 2.1 percent Hispanic population.
“You think 1 percent or half a percent is not a lot, but to our population it is,” Escobar said.
The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations Inc., founded in 1998, oversees 23 organizations at hundreds of schools, including Virginia Tech. The groups try to focus on specific cultures but are open to all ethnicities.
NALFO was created as an umbrella organization for all Hispanic groups with Greek ties, or Greek letter organizations, said spokeswoman Roxanna Latifi.
