Rutgers Univeristy -
New Brunswick
Tau Alpha Chapter
The story of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity at Rutgers began in the summer of 1996 in Queens, NY. It was there that Bro. Louis "Clip" Valente, an alumnus of SUNY at StonyBrook who pledged in the fall of 1992, first approached Bro. Alfredo "Profeta" Perez de Alejo with the idea of founding a chapter of the Fraternity at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ. Bro. Louis was also going to be attending Rutgers as a graduate student under the Joint Molecular Biosciences Ph.D. program. During the fall of 1996, being inspired with Bro. Louis' proposition, Bro. Alfredo embarked on a search for an interest group at Rutgers University. He was successful in recruiting two men, one of them being Bro. Fernando "Cierto" Ruiz. In the spring semester of 1997, three men under-went the Membership Education Process under the tutelage of the Delta Alpha Chapter at Kean College.
The Founding Line was under the direction of the National Undergraduate Representative Bro. James "Serio" Reed from the Delta Alpha Chapter who was appointed as the Dean Of Pledges. The Founding Line anticipating the potential of initializing and leading a prominent and undying chapter of the Fraternity at Rutgers adopting the title "Empiezo Sin Final" as their line name. As a result of their hard work and dedication, Bro. Fernando was appointed as the Captain of the line and Bro. Alfredo was appointed as the Anchor of the line. On March 21, 1997 the Founding brothers were inducted into our most Honorable Fraternity. During the Spring of 1997 the Brothers of Rutgers worked on their recognition with the Fraternity and with the campus. On June 17, 1997 the group at Rutgers was officially recognized as a colony of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity.
The group at Rutgers started off on the right track with the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year. As seeing that new membership was a top priority, Bro. Louis pledged the Alpha Line of the Fall '97 semester here at Rutgers and successfully crossed Bro. Alexander "Educado" Figueroa and Bro. Irving "Dimension" Roman. Also at the end of this semester to our sadness Bro. Fernando left school due to personal reasons. Bro. Fernando left school as a model student being a Math and Statistics major having a GPA of 3.8. Bro. Fernando joined the AirForce base station at Nebraska. This semester the Rutgers Campus got to see the Lambda Betas in full force with their first party on November 13, 1997, "The Ruckus at Rutgers Jam" which was very successful and got the brothers exposure.
During the Spring '98 semester the colony at Rutgers saw the induction of four more brothers from the Beta Line comprised of Bro. Carlos "Renacer" Alvarez, Bro. Morris "Realizar" Lopez, Bro. Gabriel "Muralla" Arroyo, and Bro. Nolberto "Incognito" Ayala. They also successfully completed their first program headed by Bro. Louis, "Latinos in Graduate School" in conjunction with Latin Images having over thirty people in attendance. Much to our sadness again this would be Bro. Nolberto's last semester here at Rutgers, due to his relocation to Tennessee with his parents. Bro. Morris did the colony proud by becoming the first Sigma Lambda Beta graduate of Rutgers earning his B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Puerto Rican/Hispanic Caribbean Studies.
The decision was made to have a Summer '98 Line due to the strong group of interested men. The Gamma Line consisting of Bro. Percy "Katipunero" Gayanilo, Bro. Christian "Identidad" Monsanto, and Bro. Andres "Tenaz" Lopez crossed and were added as the new blood to the group here at Rutgers. Being that the Colony at Rutgers crossed eleven men now, they decided not to concentrate on pledging new members for the 1998-1999 school year. This year would be devoted to brotherhood development, campus recognition, and hopefully reaching the ultimate goal of Chapter status recognition. Under the direction of the president Bro. Alexander, the Brothers worked extremely hard on academics, cultural programs, community service, and social events showing everyone what it means to be a true Sigma Lambda Beta Man.
Finally the brothers' hard work paid off in the Spring '99 semester. With the constant efforts by Bro. Gabriel who began new communication with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Bro. Louis gave a presentation before the Inter-Fraternity Council. By unanimous decision the I.F.C. voted Sigma Lambda Beta in as its newest member. On April 6, 1999 the Fraternity was officially recognized as a member of the Rutgers University Greek community.
Upon further realization of their goals the Brothers at Rutgers were granted Chapter status after successfully completing the petition. The decision for chapter recognition was made by the National Board at the Brotherhood Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This event was extra special for Bro. Percy as he was the sole representative for Rutgers at the Brotherhood retreat. The National Board granted upon the group at Rutgers the Chapter letter of Tau Alpha on June 25, 1999.
The saga of the Tau Alpha Chapter had a prolonged beginning but it was worth all the sacrifices that were made by all the Brothers at Rutgers. The Tau Alpha Chapter is here to stay at Rutgers University and many great things are expected to come. The Brothers look forward into the future and anticipate their impact on the Rutgers Campus as well as the surrounding community.
