Zeta Data

History

Zeta Tau Alpha was founded October 15, 1898, by nine women at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Only 14-15 years of age, these young women desired permanence to their friendships and hoped to perpetuate their sisterhood long after college. Though dedicated to the formation of a Greek-letter group, the band of nine delayed selecting a formal name. A temporary name of “???” was taken when, as legend has it, a member of another group met with the Founders. Raising her eyebrows and forming her fingers in the shape of a question mark, she asked “Who are you?” In unison, the group answered “Yes, Who? Who? Who?” Thus, the group came to be known as “???” while they sought an appropriate Greek name and symbols. During this time the group received valuable assistance from two of the members’ brothers—Maud’s brother, Plummer Jones, and Francis Yancey Smith’s brother Giles Mebane Smith. Both were students at the college of William and Mary, members of men’s Greek-letter organizations and knowledgeable about Greek lore. After a year of careful contemplation, the group chose the formal name, the patron goddess and the badge.

Open Motto

“Seek the Noblest”

Purpose

The purpose of Zeta Tau Alpha is to intensify friendship, promote happiness among its members, to perform such deeds, and to mold such opinions as will conduce to the building up of a purer and nobler womanhood in the world.

Symbols

Some of our symbols are listed below:

© The strawberries were chosen because in the late 1800s, an admirer of one of ZTA’s Founders 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.