FOUNDERS’ DAY PROCLAMATION Hear me calling. Hear me calling. Zeta. Zeta. Listen. Listen. Do you hear me calling? Do you sing those words to yourself as you read them? Do they bring back fond memories of your college days? Do you smile when you hear that refrain? Of course, those words are the beginning of the much loved ZTA song “The Call.” National Council selected “Hear the Call” as our 2016– 2018 biennium theme. This year, we will focus on this portion of the lyrics: “I hear the call of Zeta. It always is within me and makes me ever loyal to my Fraternity.” Ever Loyal will be the theme of Convention 2018 in Orlando—70 years after “The Call” first appeared in the official ZTA songbook at the Golden Anniversary Convention in Virginia Beach in 1948. Seven of our eight living Founders attended that Convention, marking the first time they had been together since 1928. There, they received identical pearl badges because they had donated their original badges to the Historical Exhibit. They were ever loyal—to each other and to our Fraternity.
Statement of Ownership
6 · THEMIS · Fraternity News
The Golden Anniversary Convention gave us three traditions we cherish to this day. The Chain of Chapters was on display for the very first time. The Founders’ Day Service that we still use today was revised that year. And from that Convention on, all Zetas who paid initiation dues became lifetime members of our Fraternity. Zeta Tau Alpha has given all of us a lifelong gift. What will you do this year to show you are ever loyal to our Fraternity? Wear your badge proudly and attend a Founders’ Day Service. Join an alumnae chapter and experience year-round friendships with sisters from many chapters. Come to Convention and experience the joy of holding your chapter’s link in The Chain. ZTA is your past, your present and your future. Follow the example of our
Founders. Be ever loyal to your sisters and to your Fraternity. Given under my hand and seal, I proclaim the fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord, two thousand and seventeen, as our 119th Founders’ Day.
Carolyn Hof Carpenter National President Austin, Texas—October 2017