Whereas Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., was founded on January 16, 1920, at Howard University in Washington, DC, by five finer women, Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Pettie Watts;

Whereas these Five Pearls who founded Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., were dedicated to a core desire to provide true service, embrace scholarship, set a standard for sisterly love and finer womanhood;

Whereas, on March 30, 1923, in Washington, DC, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., was incorporated to ensure the permanence of the organization by Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Gladys Warrington, Joanna Houston, Josephine F. Johnson, and L.O. Goldia Smith;

Whereas, since its founding in 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., has chartered hundreds of chapters worldwide and has a membership of over 100,000 and is divided into eight intercontinental regions and over 875 chapters located in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean;

Whereas the organization’s innovation has resulted in several firsts, including being the first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters, the first to charter a chapter in Africa, the first to form auxiliary groups, and the first to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.;

Whereas Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., is dedicated to expanding their reach and has made a concerted effort to develop chapters at both predominantly white institutions and historically Black colleges and universities;

Whereas Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., has remained dedicated in realizing the vision statement of being an organization aimed towards the people and community by raising awareness, encouraging the highest standards for scholastic achievement, and a greater meaning of unity among members;

Whereas the current members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., inherit a legacy built by former members who have left remarkable imprints in their fields, including Bernette Johnson, the first Black woman to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court and the first Black woman to become Chief Justice, Syleena Johnson, a Grammy Award nominee R&B singer, Dr. Elizabeth Koontz, a renowned educator, Dionne Warwick, a former Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Zora Neale Hurston, an author, filmmaker, and anthropologist, and Sheryl Underwood, a comedian and television host; and

Whereas Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., continues to make a difference in the United States and around the world, always following the footsteps of its founders and upholding the motto of Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority, Inc., to be a community-conscious, action-oriented organization: Now, therefore, be it