ZTA first recognized as social group after a gift of strawberries

A sorority is not only a college experience, but a commitment to an everlasting sisterhood and friendship. For those who chose to join a sorority it becomes a part of their family. This story will dig deeper into the "fraternity" whose motto is to "seek the noblest."

According to www.uh.edu/zta/facts.html, Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) is known as a fraternity, not as a sorority. It was the intent of the Founders and confirmed by action at two early conventions that Zeta Tau Alpha be designated as a "fraternity". This was done to distinguish our organization from the sisterhoods organized in connection with men's fraternities, called "sororities". Zeta Tau Alpha has no "brother" fraternity.

ZTA was founded by nine women on Oct. 15, 1898 at the Virginia State Female Normal School (now Lonagwood University) in Farmville, VA. It's the third largest group in the National Panhellenic Conference. So far there are 200,000 members, 147 active collegiate chapters and 250 active alumnae chapters.

Their official Web site, www.zetataualpha.org, stated that the fraternity's purpose is to intensify friendships, promote happiness among its members and in every way to create such sentiments, to perform such deeds and to mold such opinions as will conduce to the building up of a nobler and purer womanhood in the world.

"ZTA mission statement is to make a difference in the lives of our members by developing the potential of each individual through innovative programming," said Jessica Patterson, Texas City junior and Theta Eta chapter president. "It emphasizes leadership development, service to others, academic achievement and continued personal growth for women, with a commitment to friendship and the future based on the sisterhood, values and traditions of the past."

Patterson also said that she joined Zeta Tau Alpha because of its endless opportunities to grow as a leader and a person, and because she felt at home from the moment she surrounded herself with other members.

The colors of Zeta Tau Alpha are turquoise blue and steel gray. The five-pointed crown is an official symbol of the fraternity. The flower of the fraternity, chosen by Founder Ruby Leigh Orgain, is the white violet. The symbolic meaning of the crown as well as the meaning of the fraternity's colors is explained at the initiation service.

The badge of the fraternity is a small, black, enameled shield super-imposed upon a gold shield, bearing a five pointed crown with the letters ZTA arranged around it, and below it the word "Themis" in Greek. The banner of the fraternity is rectangular and made of turquoise and gray satin. It bears the letter "A," the word "Themis" in Greek, and a burning torch. The ZTA new member pin is a silver carpenter's square enameled in turquoise, to be worn by all pledged new members of the fraternity. The fraternity's national Web site also describes their goddess, Themis, chosen to represent the fraternity. The goddess of divine justice and law, Themis was the constant companion of the god Zeus and sat beside him on Olympus. In ancient art she is represented holding aloft a pair of scales on which she weighs the claims of opposing parties.

Zeta Tau Alpha's current corporate logo was designed in the early 1990s. It represents the rising sun with five rays that are symbolic of the warmth and the brightness that the fraternity brings to its sisters. These five rays also represent the five points of the ZTA crown.

The purple of the fraternity is the purple regalia, adorned with the torch and coat of arms, worn by the national president as a symbol of her office. It is worn at all official Zeta Tau Alpha functions.

Strawberries also play a part in the history of ZTA. Zetataualpha.org said that in the late 1800s, an admirer of one of ZTA's Founders, Mary Campbell Jones, sent her a gift of strawberries. The scrumptious present prompted the group of nine friends to host their first purely social gathering and to become officially recognized as a campus organization.

Traneka Southwell, Houston junior, said "Even though I'm African-American, I joined ZTA because I wanted to break through the stereotypes. Being a part of this fraternity can open many doors for me. I also want to change a few of my peers' perspectives and hopefully inspire them to want to pledge a sorority as prominent as Zeta Tau Alpha."

There are many notable Zeta members who have achieved great things and have represented the fraternity well, such as, Betty Buckley, (Abby Bradford on "Eight is Enough" and 1983 Tony Award Winner) and Susan Ford Bales (daughter of former president Gerald R. Ford), just to name a few.

Zeta Tau Alpha is an advocate for breast cancer. Every chapter in the nation helps with the effort to raise breast cancer awareness.

"Zeta Tau Alphas around the nation show tremendous support and love for our philanthropy breast cancer education and awareness. We chose to dedicate our lives for a cause and we were able to educate the SFA campus and community on breast cancer through Pink Out! week," Patterson said. "Throughout the week we sold over 1,200 t-shirts, gave away pink cotton candy, SFA football dinners, held a "decorate your office" and yogurt eating competition. ZTA is also raising money for our philanthropy by having a spaghetti dinner on November 2, a sonic Car hop, as well as a Run for Life in the spring."

According to the ZTA Web site, ZTA will soon begin its sixth year of a partnership with Yoplait and its Save Lids to Save Lives® program. The partnership began in 2004, when Yoplait asked ZTA to help collect lids on 10 college campuses as part of a pilot project. Now, Yoplait and ZTA have expanded the effort to all of our collegiate and alumnae chapters. For every lid collected by ZTA, Yoplait donates 5 cents to the ZTA Foundation and 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. By placing Yoplait lid collection boxes all over campuses and hosting special events, Zetas collected over 311,000 lids in 2008. ZTA began an association with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in 1992 when it became the first national sponsor of the Race for the Cure's National Series Breast Cancer Survivor Recognition Program. Ever since, ZTA has provided the signature pink T-shirts and caps for participants to wear during the race.