Convention 2010
Journalist Betty Nguyen receives ZTA honor News,” reports for “The Early Show” and contributes to other CBS programs. As her daughter’s career advanced, Betty’s mother admonished her to remember their roots. In 1998, Betty made her first trip back to Vietnam. “I often wonder what my life would have been like had we stayed in communist Vietnam,” she said. “Would I have lived in a thatched hut? Would I have received an education? Then I thought, why wonder when we can act?”
ZTA Foundation President Becky Hainsworth Kirwan reads the Outstanding Alumna Award plaque to recipient Betty Nguyen.
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he and her parents left Vietnam on one of the last cargo planes as Saigon fell to communism. They lived in three different refugee camps before settling in Texas. They dared to dream that American freedom meant a better life, but perhaps never fathomed that life would include a college education, sorority membership and a career in broadcast journalism. Yet, on July 10, 2010, CBS News Correspondent Betty Nguyen stood before her Zeta Tau Alpha sisters to receive the Outstanding Alumna Award from ZTA Foundation President Becky Hainsworth Kirwan. An alumna of Kappa Chapter at The University of Texas at Austin, Betty received the honor for her award-winning reporting with CNN and CBS and her philanthropic efforts to combat hunger in her native Vietnam. “When I moved into Jester Hall (as a freshman at UT), for the first time in my life, I felt all alone,” Betty recalled. “The Zetas were so full of life and so fun. They showed me this home away from home. Zeta was an instant family.”
Upon her return to the United States, Betty and her family began the process of starting Help the Hungry, a non-profit organization to aid those living in Vietnam. “I had no idea how to begin; I had never even filled out my own tax form let alone the mounds of paperwork that it takes to get (federally) approved as a non-profit,” she recalled. “But with a lot of prayer and determination, we were able to establish Help the Hungry in 2000.” During its first 10 years, it has assisted over 100,000 Vietnamese citizens. “Regardless of where life takes you, you have the ability to bring about positive change,” Betty said. “If you set something positive in motion, remarkable things can occur. That dedication to helping others is a big part of what it means to be a Zeta.” Much to Betty’s surprise, Mrs. Kirwan announced that the ZTA Foundation would make a $10,000 donation to Help the Hungry. The gesture reinforced Betty’s love for the Fraternity that is proud to call her a sister. “Our motto is seek the noblest,” Betty said. “I’ll admit it’s not always easy; we’re all human. But you can never go wrong doing what’s right. And for me that included becoming a Zeta.”
Betty told the audience that her ZTA collegiate days helped to shape her future. “One of the things I found so special about Zeta is its emphasis on helping us succeed, not just in school but in life,” she said. “While the goal is to get a good education, how you use that knowledge is what will shape you.” After graduating from Texas, Betty worked for local CBS affiliates in Texas before joining CNN. She served as the anchor of the weekend morning edition of “CNN Newsroom” for six years. During that time, she anchored the network’s coverage of major news events, including recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, the Virginia Tech shootings, the death of Pope John Paul II, Hurricane Katrina, and the London bombing attacks. She joined CBS in March of 2010, and now anchors the “CBS Morning
8 • Themis of Zeta Tau Alpha
Betty celebrates with sisters from Kappa Chapter at The University of Texas at Austin with the traditional “Hook ‘em Horns.”