We found this day happy 100 years happy centennial to all the women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. There are sororities that have been around longer than you that have only done half the work. And those are the young that are still trying to catch up. On January 16th, 1920, five women, Erika, Arizona Cleaver-Stevins, Pearl Anne O'Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithfull, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Petty Watts founded Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated on the campus of Howard University.
That's all they needed. I don't know where this 20 to 22 founders and lines 100 came from. When they founded the organization, they had the highest GPAs of any sorority, but they didn't study hard for status or competition, but because they carried the weight of the black communities on their shoulders.
You see, they were founded fundamentally different from other black sororities. They chose to build chapters in the most segregated sections of the deep south so that they could uplift the black community, rather than just creating a network among some white elite colleges. So while some black sororities founded their initial chapters at schools like University the Zetas intentionally went down to the deep south and founded their next chapters in cities like Baltimore, Atlanta, Talladega, Lowerman, Mississippi, Marshall, Texas at black colleges.
They were building in the backbone of black America. And the reason it's important to understand how the Zetas developed is because in the early 1900s, black Greek letter organizations were elitist. It was really for people who were well off, had a light skin complexion or wavy hair.
So Greek life was about status. The Naders intentionally founded themselves on genuine sisterhood, service to the community, and high academic standards. They defined what they called final womanhood through their actions and leaned on each other when they held conventions in cities that didn't have hotels for black people.
So as we reflect on 100 years, we can already see the fruits of their labor. In 1923, they became the first sorority to establish a chapter below the Mason-Dixon line. In 1947, they were the first sorority to establish auxiliary groups.
This meant they could expand their impact to youth and women that were not members in their organization. In 1948, they charted a chapter in Monrovia, Liberia, becoming the first sorority to found a chapter in Africa. In 1949, they became the first sorority to have a centralized headquarters.
So if you can't tell, this was not just a network or a tea party. Zeta is a business and it's ran as such. They were the first to have a paid executive secretary. So I can tell you all about famous Zetas like Zornel Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sarah Vaughn, Minnie Riperton, Dionne Warwick, even Sheryl Underwood.
Which But you've been missing the point, because there are so many unsung heroes that have carried this organization through the test of times and have sincerely gave themselves to the black community without any need for glory. So as your proud fraternity brother, I say happy Founders Day, happy 100 years Zeta's, happy Centennial to my sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.