Lambda Xi Chapter installed By Christy Marx Barber, Alpha Psi The process of molding 95 young women into one cohesive sisterhood in just two months’ time requires creativity and fun—and sometimes a really messy kitchen. Just imagine teams of nine women trying to make cookies while blindfolded and sharing the ingredients and utensils with the other teams.
Chapter (Fairleigh Dickinson University) assisted with the Preference Ceremony, and the ZTA Extension team of current and former National Officers, led by Extension Director Dolores Gonzales Gastineau, selected the colony members during a week of events in mid-September. The colony celebrated Bid Day on Sept. 18.
That messy baking and bonding experience during a retreat created special memories and established the importance of teamwork, preparing the members of Zeta Tau Alpha’s colony at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, to become Lambda Xi Chapter, the 252nd link in our Chain of Chapters, on Nov. 12, 2016.
Iota Gamma (The College of New Jersey) and Kappa Nu (Monmouth University) chapters assisted with the Pledge Service, and the Northern New Jersey Alumnae Chapter assisted with Bid Day. Ten alumnae from New Jersey and New York volunteered to serve as chapter advisors.
At the Lambda Xi Chapter Installation Banquet, chapter President Madeline Recore encouraged her new sisters to continue to strengthen the friendships made during their colony experience. “I have a challenge for you all. Step outside of your comfort zones and get to know your sisters on a more personal level,” Madeline said. “We have grown so close over this short period of time, but there is also room for us to become more connected and to build those more personal relationships.” ZTA became the sixth National Panhellenic Conference organization at Seton Hall through strong teamwork. Traveling Leadership Consultants Kelley Fox, Taylor Hite, SalliJean Saputo, Lauren Sherrard, Caroline Villarreal and Tatiana Vizzare began to recruit potential new members in late August and early September. Iota Iota
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Shortly after Bid Day, the TLCs noticed the colony members were outstanding organizers, planners and leaders. They organized cheering sections and made signs of encouragement for their new sisters on the volleyball team. They planned a sisterhood event at a nearby farm to pick apples and pumpkins and enjoy a hayride. They led the campus in supporting breast cancer education and awareness through their first “Pink Out the Green” day on campus. They also quickly answered ZTA’s call to service by hand-writing letters to breast cancer patients that were delivered by the organization Girls Love Mail and by handing out pink ribbons at the New York Giants’ “A Crucial Catch” game. On Nov. 11, officer teams from Lambda Alpha (Sacred Heart University), Kappa Iota (Moravian College) and Alpha Beta (University of Pennsylvania) chapters