The Nu Alpha Kappa Fraternity, Inc., Rho Chapter @ UCLA, is in its fourth year of existence at the university. Although it is a young chapter, each and one of the members aspire to achieve great things within the university and the community. Many none affiliates have seen the organization grow and achieve great things, but most importantly the ten founders, who embarked on the journey to establish this grand organization, who are all now alumni. The organization is constantly striving to achieve great things. It is not always content with what it accomplishes, due to the nature of being able to improve on many aspects of the achievement. We pride ourselves in calling ourselves NAKos. To many this term denotes an uncultured, ignorant individual; many people use it to point out people's stupidity. The irony of the usage of the term as a derisive one, is that those using it in that fashion, are much more ignorant than those they are attempting to insult. It is sad to say, but many indigenous people, especially of Mexico, have been labeled as nacos, by those, supposed upper-class individuals of European descent.
The use of the word has trickled down to the general populace, and has become a symbol of a label one needs to avoid; what not to be. The reason we have adopted this term is due to its importance, in our pre-columbian history.
Xinaco is a Nahuatl word used by the Olmecs, describing an educated, amiable individual who's personality and charisma transcends and enlightens all cultures and social classes. Due to being a Nahuatl word, its meaning became misconstrued, and used to label those of the lower classes. During the Mexican Revolution, the term was revived and used by some of the brave revolutionaries fighting against the corrupt government. Looking back at its original meaning, the word should evoke pride, and a torrent of other emotions. We have lost, not just the indiginous people of the Americas, but all, a great civilization to the greed of individuals. The racism brought with the conquest permeated the popular culture of Mexico, and most, if not all,
American countries. We have lost the sense of family and unity. People constantly seek to keep each other down. Due to this, many people have left their homeland to settle in a country, where prosperity and happiness is promised, but they find a racism and oppression similar
to the one they sought to escape.
We as students, seek to deconstruct the detrimental mentality that has been instilled in our youth. In the racist, popular culture, an educated NAKo, is contradictory, but in our organization, we strive to become a true NAKo; the process to achieve this is never ending. We
seek to apply all of our knowledge to every day life, and help out those in need. By nature, we become a home away from home, to those students who feel ostracized in this large UCLA community. We seek to unite and involve all students in a more harmonious, and brotherly
atmosphere, through academic and cultural means. As brothers of the organization, we strive to live by our motto: Men of Mind, Men of Culture, Men of Pride, because once a NAK always a NAK until the day we die, but even then, due to the uncertainty of an afterlife, we
continue to be NAKos in spirit.
We have brothers from all walks of life. We are brought together by common goals; for example, developing ourselves as men, and using our gained knowledge to help our communities. When someone calls us a "naco", we simply smile and with all due respect, we thank them.
NU ALPHA KAPPA FRATERNITY, INC. HISTORY
We were formed from a meeting that took place on February 26, 1988 at California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo . Fifteen good friends gathered, of which eleven would eventually become our Founding Fathers. These friends called themselves Nacos -- a sometimes derisive term, but at its heart referring to those who give unselfishly and are friendly to all.
These Nacos wanted to demonstrate that they were an important part of the Cal Poly student body. They were enthusiastic about starting a club to help Latino students overcome the culture shock experienced when arriving at a predominantly Anglo university. As their excitement grew, they sought to create structure for their ideas. They decided to form a fraternal cultural organization.
Adapting the term Naco to the university fraternity system, the group officially became Nu Alpha Kappa Fraternity, or NAK for short. Although choosing to adopt the formalized structure of the fraternity system, NAK was -- and remains -- determined to distinguish itself from traditional "frats" by maintaining a commitment to the ideals of academic excellence, cultural knowledge, and true brotherhood.
The pressures of being the first Latino-based fraternity at Cal Poly were significant. Despite having many supporters on campus, there were also many detractors who anticipated NAK's demise. With steadfast determination, the brothers of NAK persevered.
Their hard work has paid off. Years later, NAK is one of the most respected organizations at Cal Poly -- and at each of the other chapters throughout California, Colorado and Nevada that have since joined the NAK familia.
Maybe what best sums up our Fraternity is our Motto which States:
Men of Mind, Men of Culture, Men of Pride.
RHO CHAPTER, UCLA HISTORY
As friends sharing common goals, each and every individual of the Rho Chapter Prospects attended UCLA with the same focus in mind –a prosperous future for not only themselves, but their entire families as well. Armed with boundless potential and a hunger for success, it quickly became apparent that no organization appealed to any of the members. Many organizations contained single aspects that appealed to each of the members, but none flawlessly presented themselves in every aspect that the members felt necessary. This need that the members had to push themselves to greater heights only patiently harbored itself for so long before it found a means by which to channel itself… Nu Alpha Kappa.
With his mentality already very heavily biased toward NAK, Alex Villavicencio ultimately came to the conclusion that NAK was something that the UCLA campus direly needed to be able to assist the difficult transition from high school to college of the many misrepresented underclassmen. Alongside his close friend, Eric Mendoza, the call was made to any and all of Alex’s friends that he felt would benefit from professional structure of an incorporated fraternity such as Nu Alpha Kappa, Inc.
The first meeting was held atop the roof of the Hillside Store next to Puzzles in the UCLA dorm area on a weekday night of Winter ‘04. With NAK Brother Walter Rodriguez spearheading the meeting, nearly 25 guys attended and began spreading the word about what NAK really was, and how it could help both the community and themselves. The follow-up meeting narrowed the number of guys down to about 15 individuals, and would ultimately yield the group of 10 members that are present today.
The connection of the 10 members was a transition made very simple by the relationship that Alex Villavicencio and Hiram Garcia had from their hometown of Santa Maria, CA. Hiram and his two other classmates and close friends, Juan Moreno and Oscar Ulloa, quickly found a bond with Alex’s friends, Jesus Abril and Mohamed Kargbo, because of their shared sense of humor. Also, Alex and Jesse’s friend Tony (Antonio Guillen) was asked to attend the meeting, and was accompanied by his two roommates, Eduardo Ruiz and Ritesh Salvi, and their “fourth roommate” Bryant Florez. They quickly began to crack jokes at one another, and before any of them knew it, were already riding 10 deep in a school where one finds power in numbers.
Although the process did not begin until Fall ’04, the members of the Rho Chapter Prospects found their shared bond months before they even knew there was even a process involved. As the saying goes, “We ride together, we die together”…it’s been more than a year, and no one has fallen off yet.
