Journey to Centennial 2020 Timeline

Journey to Centennial

2020 Timeline

The year 2020 began by honoring Zeta’s Five Founders with the

Founders’ Weekend Centennial

Celebration Jan. 15-18 in Washington, D.C. On Founders’ Day, thousands of members of the Blue and White Family gathered at midnight on the campus of Howard University to welcome the Centennial year, and continued the celebration with a reception that evening at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The bronze commemorative JANUARY

busts of the Founders, Their Eyes Envisioned Finer Women, were unveiled at International Headquarters and the Finer

Womanhood Empowerment

Summit was conducted to address and develop plans to continue to fight for issues that impact women in 2021.

Zeta also unveiled digital signage and billboards across the country and made several TV and radio appearances. The Lovers’ Stroll short film was also released. St. John Luxury Knit Store released their first-ever Zeta-inspired line, the first time the store has spotlighted an African American sorority. Additionally, members of Zeta distributed 13,000 Blessing Bundles to Martha’s Table in Washington, DC as Zeta’s Centennial Global Day of Service initiative. See photos on page 32.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation shortly after the January Centennial celebration, and countries around the world went into quarantine. International Headquarters’ physical office was temporarily closed. Membership Intake was temporarily halted until new protocols were established to continue the business of Zeta. Instead of in-person events, Zeta hosted virtual induction ceremonies and continued to attract new members to the sisterhood. A special class of Centennial Life Members was elevated in membership status. MARCH and APRIL

FEBRUARY

The Centennial Commission

released the fifth and final Centennial Anthology, Dove Love: The Blue and White Family; and, the 2019 Year-In-Review.

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to worsen, leading to the difficult decision to cancel the Centennial Boule that had been planned for June 2328, 2020. More than 9,500 registered guests were refunded, in full, and members were gifted a Centennial Blazer as a THANK YOU by the Centennial Commission for supporting the June event. Read the story on page 13.

More than 3,000 members who signed up as early as 2015 to MAY

Journey to Centennial

be Centennial Visionaries were refunded a portion of their donations that were not used for the Centennial Lasting Footprints and other expenditures.

The death of Mr. George Floyd ignited the Black Lives Matter Movement and members engaged in protests and initiatives that renewed the need for community-conscious, actionoriented service with both the pandemic and the resulting civil unrest. See related stories in Side 1 of the Archon.

The Zeta National Educational Foundation awarded its largest scholarship award in Zeta history. The first Founders’ $100,000 Centennial Scholarship recipient received the Arizona Cleaver Stemons Centennial Scholarship Award. Four awards for future years are planned and funded at $350,000 by the Commission. Read the story on page 50. raising more than $100,000 for scholarships! Read the story on page 52.

Zeta launched our first

comprehensive online

membership database, allowing members to pay their national, regional and state dues online. The Centennial Commemorative Journal, Transforming Lives for 100 Years, was released

JULY

and continues to be available for purchase on Amazon, along with other Centennial publications.

Zeta Phi Beta published the 2019 Annual Report, a first, chronicling Zeta’s financial and membership accomplishments, as well as our partnerships.

JUNE

Zeta celebrated our Centennial with a Service Year-in-Review virtual weekend that included commemorating Z-HOPE activities throughout the world; a Centennial Zeta Dove Ceremony, a Legacy Induction Ceremony; and a

Virtual Graduation Celebration

for Zeta graduates and postgraduates!

AUGUST

The Centennial Commission released “Journey Through Time,” an interactive documentary website. Read the story on page 38.

More than 800 Zeta Amicae attended the Virtual National Amicae Conference.

ZNEF hosted the Dollars for Scholars virtual event, Zeta is back in Africa! Gamma Alpha Sigma Zeta Chapter was chartered in Ghana and Delta Iota Zeta Chapter, reactivated in Liberia in January 2021. Read about this in Side 1 of the Archon.

2020 Timeline

Zeta closed the Centennial Commission and reconciled all financial responsibilities. The final contributions included completing the $500,000 Founders’ Endowed Fund, focused on STEM scholarships at Howard University; and, established an endowed fund at the National Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture as a continued component of the Commission initial 2016 Major Donation that supported the opening of the Museum. SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Zeta inducted our newest honorary members: Vivica A. Fox, Archbishop Mary Floyd Palmer, and Retired Major General Linda Singh. The

Founders’ Monument and Plaza, along with the Lovers’ Stroll

marker, were installed on the campus of Howard University. The Wax Figures of the Founders were completed and are housed at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, MD. Zeta also made history, being the first Divine 9 organization to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Zeta hosted the historic first virtual boule, complete with a virtual vendor marketplace, with more than 8,000 members in attendance. The event ended with a party with a purpose featuring DJ D-Nice on Instagram Live.. Read a related story on page 48. Zeta inducted a new International Executive Board and released the first issue of Membership Matters. Zeta inducted our final honorary member, Chaka Khan. A movie funded by the Centennial Commission is planned for release in 2022. Centennial Honorees received their special commissioned Centennial Dove Awards including: Mayor Muriel Bowser, Stacey Abrams, Nancy Pelosi, Stacey Stewart, Dr. Linda Singh, Collette Smith, The Honorable John Lewis, Rev. Al Sharpton, Julieanna Richardson, the family of The Edolphus Towns, Soror Anita Hill, Esq., Dr. Joyce Payne, Soror Lillian Lincoln Lambert, Soror Karen Arrington, Aurelia Skipworth, Dr. Vilicia Cade, Dr. Marjay Anderson, and Dr. Deborah Harmon-Pugh.