I know I've been changed. I know I've been changed. Hi, I'm Mrs. Hutchins, your 8th grade science teacher, and I am so excited to tell you more.
about my sorority Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. I've been a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated for 21 years. I pledged on the campus of Zeta University of Louisiana during the fall of 1999. No, I've been changed. On this Saturday, we will be celebrating our 101st birthday. We were founded, y'all, 101 years ago.
How exciting is that? That's very exciting. Okay, I would like to... ask you some questions about your sorority. Okay.
The first question is, where was Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated founded? It was founded on the campus of an HBCU, Howard University. When was it founded?
It was founded on... January the 16th, 1920. How many founders does your sorority have? We have five founders and I'll proudly wear our pin. What are your sorority colors and symbols? Well, as you can see, our colors are the beautiful royal blue and pure white.
And we have two symbols. We have the dove and we have the cat. And sometimes you might even see us make a Z when we stroll.
Is your sorority associated with the with the fraternity? Honey we're not just associated we're constitutionally bound to the brothers of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated and as a matter of fact let's hear from one of my brothers now On January 16, 1920, five women, Arizona Cleaver Stemmons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithfull, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Petty Watts, founded Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated on the campus of Howard University. When they founded the organization, They had the highest GPAs of any sorority, but they didn't study hard for status and competition, but because they carried the weight of the black communities on their shoulders. They chose to build chapters in the most segregated sections of the Deep South so that they could uplift the black community.
The Zetas intentionally went down to the deep south and founded their next chapters in cities like Baltimore, Atlanta, Talladega, Lorman, 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 but the Zetas intentionally founded themselves on genuine sisterhood, service to the community, and high academic standards. They defined what they call 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 of the... in their organization. In 1948, they chartered 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 I can tell you all about famous leaders like Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sarah Vaughan, Minnie Riperton, Dionne Warwick, even Sheryl Underwood.
But you'd be 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- So as your proud fraternity brother, I say happy Founders Day, happy 100 years Zeta's, happy centennial to my sisters Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. Why did you join Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated? I joined Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated because of our pillars. I am a woman who embodies sisterly love, service, scholarship, and finer womanhood. Thank you.
From hearing about your sorority, I definitely want to join the sorority now. I can't wait to pass my legacy coat on to my baby.