Founders' Day Proclamation 2021

On Oct. 15 every year our sisterhood reflects on the nine young women who founded Zeta Tau Alpha at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia, in 1898. After 123 years of Steadfast & Strong love and loyalty to ZTA, our Founders would be proud of this exceptional sisterhood.

We hope you’ll take the time to view the Founders’ Day greeting from National President Alicia Patten Williams and read the official Founders’ Day Proclamation below.

This Founders’ Day, the Foundation is hosting its second annual Day of Giving. If you would like to honor our Founders with a donation, you can do that here.

Thank you for being such an important part of Zeta Tau Alpha. Together, no matter where our journey leads us, we will always remain Steadfast & Strong.

Founders' Day Proclamation

The extended period of not seeing our Zeta Tau Alpha sisters in person during the pandemic has been difficult. Nearly 100 years ago, our Founders experienced that disconnected feeling on an extreme level. After graduating from the State Female Normal School, they were never all together again. Family obligations, careers and weddings kept them apart for years until November 1924 when eight Founders reunited in Richmond, Virginia. Maud Jones Horner had passed away in 1920 from complications of the Spanish flu.

For us, the months of being apart gave way this summer as we were able to come back together carefully, but with great joy and excitement. Postponed events became extra special celebrations. Girls’ weekends replaced Zoom calls. Collegians returned to their ZTA homes, masking up indoors. With safety requirements in place, many campuses were able to hold recruitment and enjoy Bid Day in person.

Let’s make a promise today to cherish the time we spend together and use what the separation has taught us to make the most of our ZTA experience. Join a local alumnae chapter to stay connected and have great fun with sisters. Volunteer as a collegiate chapter advisor to mentor our young leaders and help strengthen the Fraternity’s future. Make plans to attend Convention 2022 in Dallas next July. Consider donating to the ZTA Foundation to show Loyalty & Commitment and help fund valuable programs.

This Founders’ Day, the Foundation will host its second annual Day of Giving. Everyone will be able to take a road trip, albeit a virtual one, to sisterhood sights, points of interest and historic destinations. Each stop along the way will reveal a great reason to celebrate being a Zeta.

Our Founders would be proud of the exceptional determination and positivity our sisterhood has shown throughout the past year to keep our Fraternity Steadfast & Strong. Continue to be safe, be well and “think in terms of all mankind.”

Given under my hand and seal, I proclaim the fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-one, as our 123rd Founders’ Day.

Alicia Patten Williams
National President