Convention 2010
Think Pink!® founder Tanya Snyder initiated because I grew up in a home with my mother and three sisters. But I knew I wanted to do this work.” ZTA alumna Vicki Decker Griffith first approached Mrs. Snyder about helping to establish the program, and she had the honor of escorting her during her Initiation service. Mrs. Snyder fondly recalls the first Think Pink! game and pledged to continue to move the effort forward. “I remember hearing about the Zetas making the pink ribbons, thousands of them by hand,” she said. “Now every October, you see a large pink presence at NFL games. Just thinking about and visualizing it makes me smile. That initial effort has grown now to 28 NFL teams taking part in the program, and we hope to make it 32 very soon.” Tanya Snyder, center, meets with ZTA Think Pink!/NFL coordinators Lisa Cramer Dierbeck, left, and Vicki Decker Griffith, right.
I
t was a simple, three-word phrase, but it brought a smile to the face of every National Officer at the head table.
“…we at Zeta…” Standing at the podium, wearing the carpenter’s square pledge pin, Tanya Snyder, wife of Washington Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder, developer of the Think Pink!® program with the National Football League and the league’s spokesperson for its Crucial Catch breast cancer education campaign, spoke of herself and Zeta Tau Alpha in the first person plural. Just a few hours later, that partnership was sealed as Mrs. Snyder become a member of the Fraternity as the Convention initiate on Thursday, July 8.
Just over two years ago, the fight against breast cancer became very personal to Mrs. Snyder. “Early one morning, I felt a lump in one of my breasts,” she said to a hushed audience. “My husband concurred; something was there. I was frightened. It was unbelievable to both of us when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After two successful surgeries, I am grateful that I can report to you today that I am cancer free,” she said. The Convention initiate thanked her family and ZTA for sharing her vision. “I thank Dan and our three children. The Redskins’ involvement would not have happened without Dan’s commitment. My daughters have been right out there in front of the stadium, passing out ribbons, and we will all be there again this year,” she said. “It means so much to me to be involved with Zeta. Thank you so much for this honor, and I promise, I will continue to think pink.”
“I am so proud that since 1999, tens of millions of people have been touched by the Think Pink! campaign and we at Zeta, along with the NFL, have made it happen,” Mrs. Snyder said. Former National President Laura Ladewig Mauro said Mrs. Snyder’s dedication to breast cancer education and awareness and her enthusiasm and diligence in helping to develop the Think Pink! program had already endeared her to the ZTA membership. Mrs. Mauro told the Convention, “Tanya’s initiation will allow those of us who admire her so much to have the honor of calling her our sister.” In 1999, Daniel Snyder bought the football team that he dearly loved. From the start, Mrs. Snyder felt a calling to use the prestige of NFL ownership for a greater good. “The same year that my husband bought the team, I began volunteer work in the fight against breast cancer. In some strange way, I felt a calling to the cause,” she told the Convention. “Perhaps it was the awareness of the rising number of cases. Or maybe it’s
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, right, and senior vice president Tony Wyllie enjoyed the dinner’s Mardi Gras theme.
Fall 2010
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