"Literacy: EMPOWERMENT, One Word at a Time." In the spring of 2000, the Sorority decided to focus its efforts and funding on literacy. A study by the National Adult Literacy Survey found that between 21% and 23% of American adults are functioning at the lowest level. 25% of the respondents were immigrants, and 62% had ended school before completing high school. This represents approximately 40 to 44 million people. Not surprisingly, those with the fewest years of education and those who are new to the United States were most likely to have limited literacy skills. Among adults, Latinos have lower literacy levels than do whites, both in general and even when they hold similar levels of educational attainment. Adults that cannot read were children that could not read. Did you know that at age four, Latino children tend to have less developed school-related skills than do white children? By age nine, Latino students lag behind in reading, mathematics, and science proficiency.
The Sorority advocates literacy as a means of ensuring the empowerment and success of our nation and of the people of its diverse communities. We strive to encourage literacy as an activity that affords limitless possibilities and promotes reading and writing as enjoyable, exciting, and empowering. Each year, the Sorority targets a particular population, defined by age, need, or location in which to focus its literacy efforts. This year, our initiatives will emphasize the importance of literacy in the lives of children and youth (up to 22 years of age). It is our intention to bring the richness and power of literature to the minds of children.
Our work will be based on the premise that literacy serves to uplift our communities by fostering confidence within our young people, so that they may advance toward their educational, personal, and professional goals. In turn, our children may begin working toward establishing a foundation of success for our communities and our nation as whole.
SLU has participated in several programs focusing on fostering a positive attitude toward reading, for the entire family-the community.
- National Book Drive: All of our organizations chapter's have participated in book drives and donated all collected books to local schools and community centers. The sorority has established a year-long goal of collecting a minimum of 1,000 books and spending at least 1,000 hours in literacy-related activities with children.
- Literacy Networks: Participated in several literacy programs in NYC like Kids Day and LINC.
