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By Katlin Sweeney

Editor-in-Chief

After a long process of advocating to become part of the Greek community on campus, the first Asian-interest sorority was established at CSUSM on May 2.

KPDL, which stands for Knowledge, Perseverance, Diversity and Legacy, is the first and only Asian Pacific Islander sorority interest group at CSUSM. Established on campus in 2009, KPDL was given the opportunity in Fall 2014 to potentially transition to official Greek status by merging with an established Asian-interest sorority.

After the campus Greek presidents and members of KPDL discussed extensively about the potential of making this change, the Asian-interest sorority, alpha Kappa Delta Phi (aKDPhi), was selected as the sorority to bring to CSUSM. 12 members of KPDL were chosen to charter the very first class as alpha Kappa Delta Phi. The official sisters of aKDPhi are now looking for new members for Spring 2016.

President of KPDL, Trisha Llanes, said that many of the Greek organizations on campus have been welcoming of their transition to official sorority status.

“Transitioning from sorority interest group to sorority status is unreal to all of us, especially to those members who have been a part of KPDL since their freshman year,” she said. “Being a senior now, I cannot express how excited I am to be part of this legacy and make a name for ourselves as the first and only Asian Interest sorority at CSUSM.”

Llanes said that having an Asian Pacific Islander (API) sorority is something that CSUSM will benefit from.

“Having an API sorority at CSUSM will definitely add more diversity on to campus, which is something we need,” she said. “The ladies of alpha Kappa Delta Phi pride in sharing our culture to other students and those involved in the Greek community – we are thrilled to be making a name for ourselves in representing such a respected and prestigious sorority.”

The transition to sorority status will allow the new aKDPhi to be involved in the official Greek community on campus. When students explore options of which sororities to rush, aKDPhi will now be an option to choose from. This will also give aKDPhi the ability to participate in events such as award ceremonies and Greek hosted shows.

Four year KPDL member, Heaven Quiban, said that bringing aKDPhi to campus is a major accomplishment for the entire campus, but women of color in particular.

“A part of aKDPhi’s purpose for establishment is to give a chance for Asian women to participate in the Greek system, which once excluded minorities,” Quiban said. “However, it is not about ethnicity – more so about finding a group of people who share common values and interests wi

th each other, and want to support one another in reaching their goals.

Quiban said that aKDPhi is an opportunity for women of all backgrounds to come together, motivate one another and celebrate API culture.

“Having an Asian upbringing makes these connections between women a bit easier, since we can relate our experiences of being Asian-American, but aKDPHI is not limited to only accepting Asian women into our sorority,” Quiban said. “We welcome women who are interested in becoming the best versions of themselves. Our purpose is to help women become leaders and to support each other personally and academically during and after college, while spreading Asian awareness and our philanthropic cause, Breast Cancer awareness.”