Lambda Theta Phi, Fraternidad Latina, Inc. was founded on December 1, 1975 at Kean College in Union, New Jersey.
It all began on September of 1975, when Founding Father Agustin Garcia entered Kean College as a freshman. A politically active individual, he ran for a position on the Freshman Student Council and became the first Latino elected to the Kean College student government. A man of vision, he was concerned over the disunity among the Latin students and took it upon himself to begin to organize the Latinos at Kean.
From September to November of 1975, Founding Father Agustin Garcia and a group of other students met to find the solution to uniting the different Latino groups on campus. Founding Father Garcia initiated these meetings and reached out to all Latino students, irrespective of their ethnic background. The major topics of discussion at these meetings were the need to become politically conscious and active as Latino students and the unification of all Latinos.
Early in the discussions, the Fraternal and Founding Fathers of the Fraternity shared a vision as to the purpose of the brotherhood. The founders realized that while the Latino population within the United States was stable and growing, there was no Latin unity. The founders simply had to examine their immediate surroundings and the history that had brought them together. Simultaneously, our founders realized that the life of the brotherhood was mostly limited to a college/university setting.
The Fraternal Fathers, as college administrators, sensed that many Latino males felt out of place in American colleges and universities. In order to succeed in the academic world and, more important, in the world that existed beyond the campus, the Latin male must achieve this maximum educational potential. The initial purpose of Lambda Theta Phi? To serve as a source of support to the Latino college student in pursuit of an education, while promoting brotherhood and Latin unity.
Thus, at a meeting on November 11, 1975, Founding Father Garcia proposed the idea of founding a fraternity. He believed this structure would best meet the needs of the Latinos by promoting unity through brotherhood. In this way, Lambda Theta Phi was born! The formation of this Fraternity can best be described by one word: evolution. The brotherhood, like any organization composed of many facets, was built slowly, one element at a time. In fact, to date certain components continue to evolve to meet the demands of changing times. December 1, 1975, may be the recognized birth date of the Fraternity. However, the essence of Lambda Theta Phi developed subsequently.