About Zeta Tau Alpha
In 1898, nine young women at the Virginia State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) formalized their friendship by forming Zeta Tau Alpha. Away from home for the first time, these teenagers longed for companionship while they studied to be teachers. Fearing their unique friendship would fade without a formal bond to sustain it, they met in secret by candlelight in the bathroom of their dormitory. At the start, they used only three question marks as their group name. The first minute book of regular meetings states Zeta Tau Alpha was organized Oct. 15, 1898.
Learn more about how Zeta Tau Alpha was founded.
We now have more than 300,000 initiated members, 172 active collegiate chapters and more than 225 alumnae chapters across the country.
The Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation is the philanthropic and fundraising arm of the Fraternity. The Foundation leads our efforts in breast cancer education and awareness, provides around $1 million in scholarships annually, and sponsors educational and leadership opportunities for our members and others.
The ZTA Fraternity Housing Corporation is the largest in the Panhellenic world and provides safe, secure and competitive housing for all our collegiate members.
Explore the national ZTA website to find additional information about our Nine Key Values, policies, dedication to inclusion, programming and more.
Zeta Tau Alpha at Youngstown State University is the Zeta Gamma chapter. We have been an active chapter on this campus since 1964. ZTA has three national philanthropy sponsors - American Cancer Society, NFL, and Bright Pink! Because of the amazing support from these groups, we are able to participate in many activities relating to breast cancer awareness and education locally all year round, not just in October.
Bright Pink allows us to bring a representative to our campus to help better educate our sisters and their families on the signs and facts of breast and ovarian cancers. American Cancer Society provides ZTA with a super fun volunteer day at their Making Strides walk located at Austintown Fitch High School.
In 2014, our chapter started having an annual Pink Pancakes event located on campus in our Newman Center. This is a free event open to everyone where we collect children's books to donate to Akron Children's Hospital.
Our major philanthropy event is the Pink Ribbon Cheer Classic, or PRCC, that is held annually at the end of October. This event is absolutely amazing because not only does it bring together our collegiate and alumni sisters, but it involves the entire community. Over the past 15 years, this event has grown to be over 150 teams coming to Youngstown State to compete in front of over 5,000 spectators. We also have a beautiful survivor ceremony to honor all the survivors and then our sisters perform a survivor dance. This past year, Zeta Tau Alpha's PRCC raised over $120,000 to donate to breast cancer.