A new sorority could soon be coming to Auburn's campus.
Founded in 1981 at Rutgers University, Mu Sigma Upsilon is the nation's first multicultural sorority.
Josie Acosta, Mu Sigma Upsilon's national officer of expansion, said the move is not yet official.
"We are at the beginning stages," Acosta said. "We have a group of interested women. There are about 10 girls. It is not official, but we have been invited to have an informational session for these girls and have an interest group."
According to Acosta, the University has been welcoming.
"From there, we would work with the girls for the next one or two semesters to help them establish a chapter," Acosta said. "It looks like the school is pretty open, as far as us coming on campus, but it will not be for about another year."
In 1998, Mu Sigma Upsilon co-founded the National Multicultural Greek Council with 11 other Greek Letter Organizations.
"I believe Auburn does not have a council for us right now," Acosta said. "We fall under the umbrella of National Multicultural Greek Council. So it is basically like the National Panhellenic Council, but for multicultural sororities and fraternities."
The sorority, whose motto is "Mujeres Siempre Unidas" or "Women Always United," has more than 950 members at 13 chapters across the country.
Sabrina Colon, Mu Sigma Upsilon's national officer of communications, said the sorority has three goals.
"The first is academic excellence," Colon said. "The second is unity among all women, and the third is be active in the university and community. So we try to found all of our chapters based on those principles."
According to Colon, many women join the sorority because they have not yet found the right fit.
"I think the main reason a lot of girls are attracted to Mu Sigma Upsilon is that they do not feel like their university currently has an organization that speaks to them," Colon said. "Which sorority you choose to join is an extremely personal decision, and there is usually only one organization for each woman. That is why there are usually so many options."
Colon said she was a founding member of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte chapter of Mu Sigma Upsilon.
"As a founder of my own chapter, I personally wanted to bring Mu Sigma Upsilon to campus because I was looking for something that really united all women," Colon said. "I wanted something that celebrated all walks of life, but also brought us together because of the things we hold dear, like community service, philanthropy and elevating women."
Marie Beverly, freshman in business administration, is one of the women interested in starting an Auburn chapter of Mu Sigma Upsilon.
Beverly said the idea came from another campus organization.
"A group of girls and I were members of the Residence Hall Association," Beverly said. "The housing department told us they had to cut our program due to lack of funding. We loved hanging out, and had a really diverse group of people."
According to Beverly, the women were inspired by recent events.
"We thought that what just happened at the University of Alabama, and that just reflects badly on our state in general," Beverly said.
Beverly said the women want to make a difference.
"Some of us were in Greek sororities, some were in non-Panhellenic sororities and some of us were in historically black sororities," Beverly said. "We talked about how they're all similar, but they're still segregated even though it's 2014. We just thought there should be a way for all of us to hang out and have fun."
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