OPBSI’s National Day of Remembrance

NEW YORK, New York… October 1, 2008. Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated (OPBSI) will be holding its annual National Day of Remembrance on October 9, 2008. The day was established in response to the sudden and tragic passing of one of OPBSI’s seventeen Radiant Founders, Renee Padilla. In great dismay on October 9, 2000, Founder Renee Padilla died in a heartbreaking car accident. In Renee’s memory the members of OPBSI take this day to cherish and celebrate her as well as the lives of other loved ones who have passed.

OPBSI’s Founder Renee “Encanto” Padilla touched many lives. Members and others firmly believe that she continues to guide them, and therefore annually honor her life, her laughter, and her memory through the National Day of Remembrance. As a sisterhood, OPBSI values the gift of life, ensuring that each woman is celebrated, treasured, and loved for who they are as individuals. As a part of the greater Latino Greek community OPBSI honors the vital role she played in the foundation of the Latino Greek Council at the University at Albany, where OPBSI was also founded. These extraordinary contributions helped prompt the national movement of unifying Latino Greeks in the early 1990s. It is undeniable that her legacy not only impacted the organization, but the collective Latino fraternal movement as a whole. Today OPBSI still remains resolute in supporting and representing the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, Inc. (NALFO) in her honor.

If you would like to pay your respects to Renee “Encanto” Padilla, please feel free to visit her eternal resting place at:

Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, a NALFO organization member, is a Latina-oriented sorority founded on March 15, 1989, at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Seventeen women of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds came together to defy the injustices suffered by women, particularly women of color, in the academic, professional and political arenas. The purpose of OPBSI is to serve and educate people of diverse backgrounds through sisterhood, leadership, and guidance. As positive role models, we promote unity of all cultures, focus on the empowerment of our gender and raise the standards of excellence in our academic, social, and personal endeavors. For further information visit: www.OmegaPhiBeta.org .

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