Upsilon Beta (University of Northern Colorado) - 8th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference
Program Description:

On April 8, 2010, the Upsilon Beta Chapter hosted roughly 230 eighth grade Latino students throughout Weld County (our county). We put them through four different workshops that tied to Latino culture, self-esteem, career paths, and education. Our keynote this year was a slam poet named Joaquin Zhuatanejo, who is the world slam poet champion. If you're curious, you can youtube him and find some very interesting videos of his poems.

Below is the type of workshops we have for the students along with our keynote speaker -
* Latino Culture Workshop - Held by Dr. Roberto Cordova (Former Univ. of N. Colorado professor). Dr. Cordova spoke to the children about how beautiful our Mexican culture is and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. We should be proud of who we are and where we come from. He inspired the students to maintain their cultural pride, because if we lose grasp of it we'll lose it forever.
* Self - Esteem Workshop - Held by Juan Carreon (Don Juan)for the fifth straight year in a row, Juan has done our self-esteem workshop. Every year that he's been a part of our conference, he has received the highest rating of all our workshops. He relates with students who are involved in gangs, poor grades, and lacking respect. The students really understand what he's gone through in his life and shows the students the importance of pursuing a higher education.
* Career Path Workshop - Brian O'ruba (Univ. of N. Colorado student engagement representative) This was the first year we had Brian in charge of our career path workshop. He was a great addition to our conference. Just like Juan Carreon, Brian received high ratings from the students. Therefore, Brian will be attending our conference again next April. Brian helps students realize career paths are important and that they can change throughout their years as an adult. He uses his life experiences and does a great job entertaining and keeping the students' attention.
* Educational Workshop - Beta Jeopardy (Alumni brothers run this workshop)For the last 8 years we have had our educational workshop a part of our conference. Every year we have improved it by making it a fun learning environment for the students and so they learn the importance of higher education. Even though these students are young, we do what we can as educated Latino to instill them with skills they need to succeed.
* Keynote Speaker - Joaquin Zhuatanejo. This year we had the world slam poet champion attend our conference as our keynote speaker. It was different than what we would normally have for a keynote speaker. Regardless of the change, Joaquin did a wonderful job keeping the students engaged and entertained with his poems that he shared with us. All of his poems were motivating and powerful. Students rated Joaquin highly for his poems and inspiration that will lead the students into a more positive direction in their lives.

Thank you to the Foundation and its contributors for helping to sponsor this event!!


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Omicron Alpha (Penn State University) - 8th Annual Beta Monologue Contest
Program Description:

On November 27, 2007, the Omicron Alpha Chapter will be holding its 8th Annual Beta Monologue Contest as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month that is geared towards empowerment and celebration of the rich and diverse Latino culture/heritage. Last year was the seventh year that the Beta Monologue Contest was held and it was a University-wide success that was appraised by students, faculty, and community members alike. Our keynote speaker last year was Murali Balaji, one of Penn State's professors and brother of Sigma Lambda Beta since 1999. He addressed the importance of communicating ones purpose through various different forms of art. A scholarship for the amount of $350 was awarded to the 1st place winner; a gift certificate for the 2nd place winner and a dinner for two at our prestigious university restaurant (the Nittany Lion Inn) was presented to the 3rd place winner. Various prizes were also raffled amongst the audience to encourage student attendance.

Our turnout last year was tremendous (almost 200 people attended) and this year we hope to make it bigger and better. This is why we are humbly asking you to consider being one of our sponsors for this year's Beta Monologue Contest by contributing in any way that is possible for you, to make this event a success; just like last year's contest, all sponsors will be listed in the program for the event and a special recognition will be awarded to them. The Monologue Contest will be held November 27th (starting at 7:30p.m). We are welcoming Michael Benitez Jr., one of Penn State's prestigious alumni and brother of Sigma Lambda Beta since 1997. He will stress empowerment and education, addressing issues of diversity, social justice, cross- and intercultural unity, leadership, youth development, and multiculturalism.

Link to school newspaper event coverage.
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Alpha Beta (Univ. of Minnesota) - 2008 Cultural Celebration
Program Description:

The Cultural Celebration is a one-day event to bring cultural awareness amongst the campus' diverse groups/organizations and display that to the large campus. The event will include a variety of aspects to share the diverse culture, through story telling, dance, performing arts, and cultural food. Hosted by Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Incorporated, in collaboration with 10 different student groups, Asian American Student Union, La Raza Student Cultural Center, Phillipines Student Association, Lao Student Association, UofM Tango Club, Business Association Multicultural Students, Middle Eastern Student Association, Afghan Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association, and Indian Student association, the cultural celebration is planned by all the organizations that participate. There will be four committees with board members from the participating organizations who will help to plan and organize the event. The four committees are; Finance, Logistics, Programming, and Marketing. Spearheaded by Sigma Lambda Beta this will allow influential member of diverse student organizations to work together and gain an appreciation for each others perspectives.

Post-event Thank you letter:

Esteemed Brothers,
On behalf of the Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of Minnesota, I would like to express my gratitude to the Sigma Lambda Beta Educational Foundation for its gracious contribution to our 5th Annual Cultural Celebration. Without the contribution of the SLBEF, the event would not have been the overwhelming success that it turned out to be.

After three months of intense planning and hard work, the Cultural Celebration was able to bring together over 650 people to better understand the rich culture which we all share. The three hour event featured eight culturally significant performances such that the audience would be able to enhance its understanding of one another. Through song and dance were able to exhibit Native American, Lebanese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and Ghanaian cultures among others. Further, we were able to provide the audience of 650 a buffet style dinner featuring food delicacies from all around the world. The event was an incredible success as we were able to disseminate the rich culture which we share to the University of Minnesota campus.

This event was made successful by partnering with a number of student groups on campus. Our chapter partnered with the La Raza Student Cultural Center, Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority, Alpha Kappa Sigma Sorority, Chinese American Student Association, Latino Living Community (Casa-Sol), Philippine Student Association, and the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence among others to ensure that the event would engage the campus community. The partnership provided means for our chapter to build a deeper relationship with other organizations on campus; we will be able to further leverage our relationships with these organizations in the future.

In reflecting on the event, next year we will try to build partnerships with student groups that have not had a relationship with Sigma Lambda Beta in the past. Further, we will work to exhibit a more diverse set of cultures. Lastly, next year we hope to engage more brothers from Sigma Lambda Beta around the country to share this experience with us. On behalf of the Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of Minnesota, I would like to thank the Sigma Lambda Beta Educational Foundation for supporting us on this endeavor.

Fraternally yours,
#47 Amin "Al Haaq" Aaser
Vice President of Finance and Operations

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Tau Alpha (Rutger's University) - Victor Correa Ortiz CPR Awareness Day
Program Description:

This event will provide a venue in which students can learn how to perform Adult CPR, the gift of life, when it is needed in case of an emergency. There will be instructors from the Rutgers Emergency Services Department offering the class with practice dummies and an instructional video. We will cover the fees for the certification of each participant; therefore, it will be a free certification opportunity for students.

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Zeta (Univ. of Michigan) - Wisdom for Culture: A Celebration of Diversity and Prosperity
Program Description:

Wisdom for Culture: A Celebration of Diversity and Prosperity is Zeta Chapter's second annual scholarship ceremony. The main purpose of the event has always been to award a scholarship to the most qualified undergraduate male and female on campus. This year our goal is to evolve the event into our flagship program that will brand Sigma Lambda Beta and Zeta Chapter as entities that are committed to the academic success of underrepresented minorities in higher education. We will achieve this goal by featuring Sigma Lambda Beta's past national president, brother Ammar "Corazon" Mufleh as our keynote speaker. Ammar will speak about what he is truly passionate, which is diversity, leadership and education. Secondly, we will also present our "Pillar of Strength" award to a deserving leader on campus that has demonstrated continued commitment to bettering his or her community. Through these events the Wisdom for Culture: A Celebration of Diversity and Prosperity will solidify Zeta Chapter's reputation as an organization dedicated to the prosperity of its community.

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Omicron (Iowa State University) Grant - Project DREAMS
Project Description:

D.R.E.A.M.S. stands for Developing Responsible, Educated, and Aware Multicultural Scholars. This program was developed this past fall semester by the Omicron chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. in collaboration with the Gamma chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. Project D.R.E.A.M.S. is designed around the three key principles of Responsibility, Education, and Awareness.

Target:
After considerable research, we have selected Perry High School in Perry, Iowa as our pilot school. Our target audience consists of all Perry High School students, freshmen through seniors, who can benefit from such a program. We are currently working with Perry High School to identify the 25 students who we will be working with.

Motivation:
The state of Iowa has been suffering from a having a low multicultural representation in its higher education institutes. Perry, which has a high Hispanic and African American population, has been particularly affected by this. The average household income and the percentage of population with a bachelor's degree in Perry are both below state average.

Goals:
1- Responsibility: motivate the students to become agents of change in their community. The students will design and implement a community service project targeting a specific social problem in Perry, IA.

2- Education: motivate the students to pursue higher education. This will be achieved through a bi-weekly mentoring program, where the students will learn about the value of college education, and about available resources that can help them afford it.

3- Awareness: prepare the students' mindset so that they can realize their full potential once they are in college. Students will be exposed to a series of interesting topics, including the importance of diversity, and early career planning.

Long Term Vision:
Project D.R.E.A.M.S. was designed to be a sustainable program that can be easily implemented in a network of high schools nationwide, by different SLB chapters. We aspire to inspire a future generation of multicultural leaders who can positively impact our communities.

Click here for further project details.
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