Save Pink Yoplait Lids!

In 2009, Zetas collected more pink lids than ever before-346,618 lids! Now entering our fifth year with Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives campaign, our hope is the ZTA membership continues its success with bringing awareness to Breast Cancer through this fun, exciting and simple program. One big change this year to the lid collection program is that all lids need to be sent to:

Save Lids to Save Lives
PO Box 400007
El Paso, TX 88540-0007

CLEARLY LABEL YOUR ENVELOPE WITH THE ALUMNAE CHAPTER NAME ON THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF YOUR LID PACKAGE. Yoplait is counting the lids and needs to be able to clearly identify who receives proper credit.

Lids must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2010 in order to be counted!

ZTA at Kansas State

Zeta Tau Alpha is working hard to recruit chapter members for our Beta Upsilon chapter, returning at Kansas State this fall! A team of national officers arrived in Manhattan over the weekend, and infoviews with members and recruitment parties will be taking place all week. ZTA Traveling Leadership Consultants have been on campus since classes started, and they have helped sign up over 500 potential new members!

We are very excited to welcome our newest Zetas in the district on Bid Day on Thursday, 9/16. It will be even more exciting to reactivate our link in the chain of chapters later this fall. What a great time to be a Zeta in Kansas!

"Experienced the Sisterhood" in New Orleans for ZTA's Convention

It was a great privilege and ton of fun representing Kansas and Missouri alumnae at our 50th National and 39th International Convention. Although I had to leave Friday morning to celebrate my brother's wedding, I was able to "Experience the Sisterhood" and loved every minute.

I arrived early on Tuesday afternoon with other national officers and enjoyed spending time catching up with them. At our national officer dinner, we learned about Mardi Gras krewes and got creative dreaming up our own krewes.

After some training, we started to welcome our Zeta sisters attending as delegates and visitors during lunch on Wednesday. At the opening session, we were introduced to National Council, the ZTA Foundation Board, the National Housing Corporation Board and Traveling Leadership Consultants as they paraded in throwing beads and goodies. Their Mardi Gras floats were decorated luggage carts!

We enjoyed free time to do some ZTA shopping at Crown & Co. and view the amazing new museum-quality historical exhibit. At dinner, we learned to "Laissez le bon Temp Rouler!" (let the good times roll). We enjoyed a delicious meal followed by a King's cake. The sister who found the baby got the honor of being crowned! It was also a fun surprise to welcome the Krewe of Caesar. This is a real Mardi Gras Krewe who dazzled us with their amazing costumes (see photos).

Thursday's opening business meeting included all of the traditional elements that make it so special: the flag processional with all the chapter flags, singing the national anthem and creed of Zeta Tau Alpha, and formal welcomes and greetings. New and reorganized alumnae and collegiate chapters were recognized, and it was a special highlight to receive a baby cup for the Flint Hills, KS chapter.

At lunch we received the State of the Fraternity address and were reminded of everything we have to be proud of. After more free time, we gathered for dinner and celebrated our collegiate Crown Chapter winners.

Thursday concluded with the initiation of Tanya Snyder, breast cancer survivor and wife of the Washington Redskins owner. She has been instrumental in the team's Think Pink! efforts, including a fabulous partnership with ZTA.

Although I missed the rest of Convention, it included more business meetings, sisterhood time in the Crescent City, alumnae Crown Chapter night, the presentation of Honor Rings (including one for yours truly), a sisterhood party with surprise performances by DJ $crilla and the award-winning Epsilon step team, election of our new National Council, the Silver Awards banquet and a jazz brunch. To "experience the sisterhood" yourself, check out the ZTA webpage (www.zetataualpha.org) and the ZTA Facebook page.

Now, make plans to attend ZTA Convention 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky!

Recommend a Woman to Join ZTA!

While it seems as though summer just started, before we know it, Formal Recruitment will begin for many of our collegiate chapters. You can help make recruitment a success for our collegians by voluntarily submitting Membership Information Sheets (MIS) for outstanding young women that you know.

You can submit an MIS online and it will automatically reach the Membership Advisor for the designated chapter. You can also print out a PDF or a fill-in Word document of the MIS and send it by mail if you like. The instructions for all those options are outlined in the spring issue of Themis.

To access all the MIS options, just visit the "Recommend a Member" tab of Sisters Only on the ZTA Web site. You will need a username and password to open that page. That process, if you haven't already completed it, is very simple. Just follow the online prompts.

The "Recommend a Member" page also includes our policy on legacies, which you may want to review.

If you are uncertain when a particular campus holds recruitment, you can find that chapter on the Chapter Locator Map. The chapter profile that opens includes the recruitment start date.

If you have any questions about the MIS process, please contact International Office by e-mail or call 317-872-0540.

Thank you for helping our chapters identify outstanding women as potential new members of Zeta Tau Alpha.

Award Winning Alumnae

The alumnae chapters in district XVIIA are amazing and very deserving of awards. Congratulations to these chapters for their achievements!

10% Membership Increase: Lawrence, KS Area and Kansas City Metro

Alumnae Chapter Programming: St. Louis

Alumnae-Collegiate Relations: Springfield

Alumnae Service: Mid-Missouri

Alumnae Membership: Lawrence, KS Area

Alumnae Panhellenic: Kansas City Metro

District Silver for Fundraising: St. Louis

Alumnae Zeta Day Attendance Award: St. Louis

KS/MO Zeta Day 2010 a Success

On Saturday, April 10, 2010, 312 Zeta Tau Alpha collegians, alumnae and guests gathered in Springfield, MO for Zeta Day. We celebrated Queens Day Mardi Gras Style and enjoyed sisterhood and service throughout the day.

The day started with traditions like Zeta Day roll call and the national greeting, but it also included a fun Heads or Tails game to raise funds for our ZTA Foundation. It was especially meaningful to recognize our sisters with significant membership anniversaries with the Order of the Shield service. We had one 75-year member and five 50-year members join us!

Collegians decorated candles to give as "beacons of hope" for breast cancer patients and then enjoyed a chant and song competition. Alumnae and graduating seniors networked and shared alumnae membership experiences with one another.

Our national Vice President Collegiate Area I, Mrs. Keeley McDonald Riddle, gave us a keynote speech about "Recruiting Everyday" during lunch. She challenged all of us to be our ZTA best at all times so that we can attract the best women to our sisterhood.

We celebrated with awards for individual members, alumnae chapters and collegiate chapters in the afternoon. Finally, we concluded with the Zeta Spans a Lifetime service for our graduating seniors and a sisterhood circle.

We'll see you in Kansas City for Zeta Day 2011!

My ZTA Travels

One of the best parts about my job as District President is the opportunity to travel to all of my alumnae chapters. I always enjoy visiting the alumnae friends I have met through the years and meeting new sisters. I learn more from my chapters than I probably teach them, and I always leave inspired by the amazing things alumnae in our district are doing.

My visits this year started in Manhattan, KS. I met with the alumnae there and helped them vote on their official chapter name and very first slate of EC officers. We had a great time at the local coffee shop in Aggieville, and I shared some ZTA history in honor of Founders' Day coming up. I am so happy that the Flint Hills, KS alumnae chapter is organized and the newest one in our district!

Just a few weeks later I traveled to Joplin, MO to meet with local alumnae and one collegian. I was joined by one of our Province Presidents, and we talked about getting the Tri-State chapter organized again. I am proud of these ladies for making it a priority to organize two events since then. I look forward to seeing them fully reorganize before the end of the year.

The weekend right after my visit to Joplin took me to the KC Metro chapter. I joined the EC officers for a retreat and spent a couple of hours working with them on all sorts of topics. Our focus, however, was on membership recruitment and surveying members. I am confident that these women will continue to grow as a chapter.

Finally, in early December I traveled to Columbia to meet with the Mid-Missouri chapter. We had a nice lunch downtown, and we talked about member recruitment. They have good plans in place to recruit many women, especially in the Jefferson City area.

If time allows, I will visit the Lawrence, KS Area alumnae chapter soon, and I will of course be at Zeta Day in Springfield. My last travel for the year will be to New Orleans for Convention! I am very excited about this and hope to see many alumnae from our district there, especially to receive Crown Chapter awards!

Newest Links in ZTA's Chain of Chapters

Zeta Tau Alpha is thrilled to be adding two new links to our chain of chapters. Lambda Gamma, the 241st link, will be added on January 30 at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Lambda Delta chapter, our 242nd link, will be added on January 31 at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Congratulations and welcome to all of our new Zeta sisters in Texas!

National Speaker for KS & MO Zeta Day

We are very fortunate to have our Vice President Collegiate for Area I, Keeley Riddle, attending our Zeta Day! You will not want to miss the opportunity to meet her and hear her speak, so make plans to join us in Springfield, MO on Saturday, April 10. It will be a great day celebrating our sisterhood, crowning achievements, completing service projects, and raising funds for the ZTA Foundation. Stay tuned for more details.