As the October sky faded to black, Kevin Ponce and his fraternity brothers practiced their moves behind a busted piñata on the campus green.

The lights strobed on and off, signaling the start of the annual stroll off – and the boys’ big debut. It would be the first time a Latino fraternity participated in the tradition on the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s campus, and the group was going to bring an old-school Rick James routine into the mix.

Kevin Ponce (far left) and other members of the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity recruit members at a welcome event at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Aug. 24, 2025. Rebecca Griesbach/AL.com

Ponce’s organization, a chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta, is the college’s first Latino-founded fraternity, and the only active one in Alabama.

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