Delta Xi Nu, a multicultural sorority based out of Texas, was recently chartered at MU in January.

The sorority began at Texas A&M, when five women decided they wanted to have a sorority that was accepting not just specific groups, but everyone. So, they started Delta Xi Nu, the multicultural sorority focused on promoting cultural awareness to all people.

Senior Julie Dimas, the secretary of the Delta Xi Nu colony at MU, said she and her friends wanted a sorority that felt comfortable for everyone.

“We grew attached to the idea of a multicultural sorority and started looking, and that’s when we fell in love with Delta Xi Nu,” Dimas said.

The initiative to get a multicultural sorority on campus started with Ladies Empowering and Advocating Diversity, a group focused on strengthening and educating women on campus about diversity.

Senior Jessica Hoyos, the president of Mizzou’s Delta Xi Nu colony, said that LEAD was a step taken in order to get a diverse sorority on campus.

“We started LEAD to get our message out there, but the goal was always to get a sorority on campus,” she said.

Another step to get a more diverse sorority on campus was by bringing back Sigma Lambda Gamma, a Latina sorority. The sorority became inactive at MU in 2010.

When making their decision about bringing a multicultural sorority to campus, the current officers of Delta Xi Nu decided that a Latina sorority would be too selective, so they decided to find a multicultural sorority.

After a voting process, the girls decided on Delta Xi Nu and had it chartered at MU on Jan. 18.

Senior Tiffany Melecio, the historian of the Delta Xi Nu colony, said that Delta Xi Nu is hoping to help MU become a more diverse campus.

“When I came here as a freshman, I thought that there was no diversity at all, but our campus has improved tremendously since then with the One Mizzou campaign and all of the resources being offered,” she said. “But we still have a long way to go before we become truly diverse.”

Delta Xi Nu, unlike most sororities on campus, is not a member of any council, such as the PHA, IFC or NPHC. One of Delta Xi Nu’s goals is to promote unity within the Greek community, and to try and create a middle ground between the different councils.

“Our goal is to get to work with as many people as we can before we put ourselves into a category,” Hoyos said. “We want to be the bridge between the councils.”

The new sorority is currently recruiting members.

Delta Xi Nu had an informational meeting last Tuesday in the Multicultural Center to stimulate its recruitment process. The meeting consisted of an informational presentation along with some games and bonding exercises.

“Recruitment is going well,” Melecio said. “We’re new and small, and our main goal is to grow and evolve as a sorority.”

Dimas said culture is a mixture of factors about a person, including ethnicity, background and personality.

“It’s not just the color of your skin, and we don’t want people to think that they have to be a minority to join us,” Dimas said.