Fun and Fraternity: Annual Kids’ Festival, a yearly event when children take a field day to MSU and enjoy a day of fun and educational activities.
Courtesy Photos
By Nadine Defensor
Popular culture often depicts fraternities in an unfavorable light, by showing them to be heavily oriented towards partying and trouble-making activities. Although certain stereotypes about them may be true, fraternities, in fact, are instrumental to helping their communities through service projects and volunteering, while also establishing a close-knit companionship amongst their members.
Phi Chapter of the Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity of Michigan State University (MSU) serves as an exemplary brotherhood that shows admirable commitment to helping their community. As the oldest existing Latino Fraternity, they dedicate themselves to expanding Pan-Americanism through social and cultural programs and activities. In addition, they are geared towards the appreciation, promotion and preservation of their Latin American culture.
According to their website, the fraternity’s Phi chapter at MSU was reestablished in 1999 through the crossing of three determined individuals. Phi Iota Alpha also prides itself of giving each brother an opportunity to further his leadership, academic growth and professional development. Each brother is also groomed to become an active member of his community so he could reach out to the new generations that follow, and allow them to reach the same level of success that he has achieved.
One of the fraternity’s most notable community programs is their Annual Kids’ Festival, a yearly event when children take a field day to MSU and enjoy a day of fun and educational activities. 280 students participated at this year’s even as children got their faces painted, played games while also taking part of team building activities.
According to current Committee Chair Eleuterio Moreno, they work closely with Bingham Elementary to coordinate this yearly program. This community service event was created by Orinzo “Gracioso” Collado, a brother who had an idea to bring kids from low-income school that don’t do well in education, showing kids how to have fun, and to have the same capacity as other kids do. His idea was continued by the founding brothers of MSU Phi chapter, and coordinated the first Kids Festival in 1999.
Through the years, they created more programs that would provide opportunities for others to enhance personal growth and development. Their Annual Latino College Experience Program is a recently created program where they give the perspective of continuing higher education for high school students, who are on the verge of dropping out.
Ruben Valencia, who crossed the fraternity last semester, said that he participated in the Field College experience before. Valencia shares that the fraternity tries to show the high school students the benefits of getting a college experience. “We expand on activities on leadership positions that we hold here, we talk about study abroad and how its important here at MSU and how that implements students coming here, international students, giving the whole sense of being open minded to the different communities and ethnicities here on campus.”
Although these young men still enjoy the social and academic advantages of being part of a fraternity, it is always their top priority to give back to their community by working together to promote the importance of education to younger individuals.
This was printed in the May 6, 2012 – May 19, 2012 Edition
Correction made on May 8, 2012
