Jaclyn Figg
Staff Writer
Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day that a lady deserves a rose, or so the fellows with the Lambda Theta Phi fraternity believe.
Every Tuesday during the month of October starting at 12:30 p.m. at the front doors of the Rendezvous Complex, Lambda Theta Phi hands out roses to each female that comes through the door, totaling 250 roses, until they are depleted.
Chivalrous Tuesday is held to promote Lambda’s motto “Chivalry above Self” and also to raise awareness for breast cancer.
“I take it to heart. I think of chivalry above self as being a kind person to everyone, whether you’re a guy, girl or whatever, and with this event, we promote that,” said Andres Zamora, the induction/recruiting officer for the fraternity.
Lambda pays out of pocket for this event; Flowers by L.D., a local flower shop in Old Town Pocatello, provides the roses at $2 a piece with a total cost for the month rounding to about $2,000.
The rose cost is split between eight people, including members of Lambda and some alumni of ISU who are still involved with the fraternity.
This year, the Gender Resource Center at ISU co-sponsored the fraternity by donating money for one week of roses. According to the President of Lambda Theta Phi, Michael Fernandez, Stacey Gibson, director of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity, loved the event and was more than willing to help.
“We wanted to create an event that actually emphasized breast cancer awareness and with our motto as chivalry above self it gave us that opportunity, because it shows we do appreciate women in our life and the system in itself,” said Fernandez.
Around each rose, the fraternity members tie a pink ribbon to symbolize support for breast cancer awareness.
Chivalrous Tuesday was started five years ago by Lambda Theta Phi’s founding father, Anjel Zamora, with help from Edgar Suarez, another founding brother. They got the idea from an organization in Florida, their online brothers, and with some promotional tips from them, they took the idea and made it their own.
“We spread the roses out throughout the month because it helps out every week. It increases the awareness, and then people don’t miss out if they really want one,” said Fernandez.
Lambda has another big event coming up this month for Dia de los Muertos translated as “Day of the Dead,” a culturally rich holiday Lambda wanted to bring to ISU.
Day of the Dead is not an extension of Halloween; it’s a tradition started in Mexico and is a cultural festival to honor loved ones who have passed.
“In their culture they believe it’s insulting to mourn for their loved ones, so they feel that by providing festivities with music, food and joy and remembering the good times with those loved ones is the best way to mourn for them,” said Fernandez.
Lambda is working with many organizations for this event. Right now they are cooperating with the Hispanic Awareness Leadership program (H.A.L.O.) as well as with the Hispanic Caucus in Pocatello, which really wants this to happen, according to Fernandez.
Lambda’s Day of the Dead event will be held in the ISU PSUB Ballroom on Oct. 31 from 9 to 11 a.m.
The Lambda Theta Phi organization encourages leadership skills in their members through the planning of cultural, educational and social events. They aim for their members to create events that educate the people of ISU.
Community service is another idea Lambda takes seriously.
“We do as much as possible to get our names out in the community and show that we love our university, we love our town and we want to do work to help promote Lambda,” said Fernandez.
Lambda is a small fraternity with four current members and four alumni members. According to Fernandez one of the problems they have is getting their name out there. He says he knows there are students who want to be involved in the same way but it is difficult to find them, especially with the already busy schedule those involved with the fraternity have.
“It’s a lot of work and strain on us but we strive to be successful and be leaders and do more than just what an average college student does,” said Zamora.
