July 6, 2020

In the past 30 days, our fraternity has stopped to reflect on our role of promoting and condoning an environment of toxic masculinity. As an organization that prides itself on professional development and academic achievement, we have fallen short with our own definition of Caballero. Our fraternity was built on the tenets of brotherhood, equality, leadership, and love, and sadly, that same self-respect has not always been reciprocated to the women and men in our lives. La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., Stands Against Sexual Assault.

Our national leadership has invested considerable time making sure we go beyond words and focus on addressing cultural issues impacting our communities. We have been actively working to ensure steps we implement are focused on systemic change and ongoing training.

As an organization, La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda has committed to the following action plan:

• Suspension of members receiving allegations until inquiries have been completed and member outcomes determined.
• Reviewing and strengthening the Sexual Abuse and Harassment sections of our current Risk Management Policy. This work includes expanding an already existing contract and scope of work with Limberlost Consulting (https://www.limberlostconsulting.com/). Limberlost has extensive experience in governance, risk and crisis prevention/management and interventions.
• Incorporating mental health, sexual harassment and consent training with subject matter experts as part of our July 2020 Virtual National Convention.
• Implementing required annual sexual harassment certification training for all members as part of being recognized as an active member.
• Integrating a sexual misconduct workshop as part of the expectations for interested students prior to applying to become members.
• Incorporating sexual misconduct training into New Member On-Boarding Training for neophytes.
• Guidance on a chapter-led virtual workshop with subject matter experts/organizations to increase campus and community awareness. Chapters will be required to conduct a minimum of one (1) workshop each year.

Our fraternity will continue to believe the individuals reporting sexual misconduct and support their courage to speak their truth. We will continue inquiries amongst our members and with complainants, as appropriate. Based on findings, will hold members accountable accordingly. We are working on additional action items that will be shared as they are finalized.

As a member of NALFO, we are co-leading the Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign & Action Committee (SA3C). SA3C was organized to revisit long-standing concerns within and among our respective organizations around sexual assault. Our collaborative work is intended to identify best practices and strategies focused on: 1) actionable steps we can take now; 2) preventative measures in training, policies, programming, and collaborations; 3) evaluating reporting practices, investigations and adjudication; and 4) establishing a process for escalating these issues across impacted organizations.

As Hermanos, we will continue to live up to the meaning of Caballero.

Please contact president@launidadlatina.org should you have any questions.

June 4, 2020

La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. seeks to help prevent sexual misconduct, assault and rape on our campuses and within our communities. We have become aware of recent allegations made against members of our organization. We are committed to working with the survivors and their organization’s leadership (as applicable) in order to gather all the facts and work towards resolving and mitigating this and any future issues.

First and foremost, we believe the women and support their courage in speaking their truth. We take these allegations seriously and will investigate all allegations and hold members accountable for any and all misconduct. We ask our Hermanos to provide the space for them to share their pain, to be heard and acknowledged.

Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, we will implement the following for our organization and our members, undergraduate and alumni:

• Review and update the Sexual Abuse and Harassment and Gender Relation Policy sections of our current Risk Management Policy
• Institute an annual online sensitivity awareness/sexual harassment/gender violence training, accompanied by a quiz and completion certification
• Incorporation of the above training into New Member On-Boarding Training
• Integration of a virtual workshop with subject matter expert as part of our national convention July 2020
• Guidance on a chapter-led virtual workshop with subject matter expert/organization to increase campus and community awareness
• Provide all members with access to the following toolkits from the Me Too Movement website (metoomvmt.org):
  • #MeToo Masculinity, Male Privilege & Consent Discussion Guide
  • Creating a 360 Degree Day of Healing, Empowerment, and Strength
• Storing applicable resources on our website for ease of access by members and visitors

We will provide future updates on the training and our member participation.

Finally, given the sensitivity of these matters we ask for patience while we investigate and work on implementing the above.

Since the women’s right movement began in 1848, women have fought against and demanded equality, equity and respect. In 2006, Tarana Burke founded the ‘me too’ movement focused on the experiences of survivors of sexual violence and sexual harassment of Black women and young women of color. The Hermanos of La Unidad Latina are committed to helping address this internally and within our communities and being agents of change and accountability.

We will provide future updates on the training and our member participation.