At Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity’s first ball to raise awareness about sexual assault, over 115 participants signed a pledge to help protect men and women from sexual violence.

The event, titled “It’s On Us: Beta Ball” included music from DJ Genesis, food and drinks. According to Samuel Banuelos ’19, one of the brothers of Sigma Lambda:

“Beta Ball is a new but hopefully annual event that seeks to educate the community on the importance of consent,” he said. “We hope it creates a sustained dialogue and creates a concrete sense of commitment to keeping women and men safe from sexual assault.”

While most participants were Dickinson College students, students from other universities were also invited.

“We invited the whole Dickinson College Community as well as students from different universities like Penn State, Kutztown, Columbia and more,” added Banuelos.

“I had fun meeting a lot of brothers of Sigma Lambda from other chapters” said Silvana Alarcon ’18. “It shows that the fraternity really cares about raising awareness to stop sexual assault, for the It’s on Us organization. I loved seeing who from the Dickinson community came to support the cause as well. It was a great turn-out!”

Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. was founded at the University of Iowa in 1986, according to the official Sigma Lambda Beta website.  Founding father Baltazar Mendoza-Madrigal realized the need for a Latino-based social fraternity to unify the Latino community. Today, the fraternity identifies themselves as one of the most culturally diverse Greek organizations.

The current brothers on Dickinson campus include Mariel Arias ’19, Samuel Bañuelos Jr. ’19, Madainn Jonah Krall ’17 and Luis Enrique Cardenas ’17. One of the current members, Kijana Jonathan Embry ’18, is studying abroad in South America. The fraternity’s four main principles include brotherhood, scholarship, cultural awareness, and community service.

According to Banuelos, the ball  was the fraternity’s final event for the fall semester. The fraternity is currently in the process of creating new events to present for the spring semester.

You can follow Dickinson’s chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta on Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/DsonBetas/

You can also sign the pledge online at http://itsonus.org/

The ball took place on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the Allison Hall Community room. It organized “It’s On Us: Beta Ball.” This event was co-sponsored by Peer Assisted Learning about Sex and Student Senate.