Zeta Iota Sisters
Written by Nathaniel DâAmato, graduating senior
Since April of 1979, 51șÚÁÏÍű has fostered a lifelong sisterhood of strong-minded and determined women through its chapter of theâZeta Iota. This sorority centers on the principles of scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhoodâthe idea of carrying oneself with respect and dignityâaiming to impart on its members mannerisms and skills to take with them throughout their lives. Through the Zetas’ daily actions, members strive to make a lasting difference in the world while carrying themselves with grace and respect. Through an environment of support and sisterhood, the Zetas have nurtured generations of women who not only embody its core principles but also personify them.
The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, has existed since 1920 and is part of the, known as the Divine Nineâa historic grouping of Black fraternities and sororities, founded in the early 20th century to promote civic engagement for those previously excluded. These organizations focus on creating a home for their members and on improving their local communities, especially for the underprivileged within them, through volunteerism. To date, these organizations have fostered an environment of mutual unity and serve as a supportive community to all they interact with. For Geneseo students, the Zeta sisters are the Divine Ninesâ sole representatives. Still, the hearts of their membersânew and oldâunderscore the impact of creating a supportive space for the marginalized, highlighting the importance of mutual support and the good that comes from cultivating these spaces.
When discussing her time with the organization, Carla Facey, a Geneseo alum of ’94 and a former member of the Zeta Iota chapter, illuminated the ways it helped her improve the Geneseo community and beyond, and her peers in the modern day. Working closely with fellow club organizations such as the Black Student Union and the Caribbean Student Union, as well as with fellow Zeta sisters, Facey bettered the community while blossoming friendships. When speaking of the organization’s community service and outreach, she reflected fondly on joint efforts to do âgrassrootsâ-based work that she and her peers took part in across the Geneseo community. By taking part in small initiatives, which took nearly any formâon and off campus clean-ups, helping with someoneâs groceries, taking part in protests, aiding in miscellaneous projects, or with on-campus move-insâFacey remarked how these projects imparted on her a focus on serving all she could; likewise, through her peers, how she found a home on campus.
Currently, Facey serves as a nurse at Strong Memorial Hospital and, since her time at Geneseo, has transitioned into the graduate chapter of Zeta Phi Beta in Rochester, the Psi Omega Zetas. She reflected fondly on how the sisterhood the organization has cultivated has fueled her to give that support back to others in the workplace and beyond. Facey currently oversees various undergraduate and graduate chapters of the Zetas across New York State, working tediously to ease new members into this wide-spanning community, making them feel at home and welcomeâjust as she was. Through her work, Facey embodies how to keep service and the idea of finer womanhood alive, and by living a service-centric life, she has cultivated a community where all people can feel welcomed and supported.
Abigail George, a Geneseo alum of â24 with a BA in Sociology and a former member of the Zeta Iota chapter, reflected on her college experience, punctuating the effects of this mutual support. With the help of those on campus and the support systems created by the Zeta sisters, George feels she has learned about herself, as an individual and as a leader. On-campus faculty like professors Dr. Monica Shneider and Olaocha Nwadiuto Nwabara, members of the Lauderdale counseling, and advocates for her academic progression, like the Coordinator for Fraternal Life and Off-Campus Services, Elizabeth Allegro, her confidence in her voice grow, while she learned to be an advocate for herself and the marginalized; finding direction and setting her sights on social issues important to her. Though quintessential to Georgeâs college progression, the Zetas would hone and blossom her into a woman who not only reflects the sororities’ values but also embodies them in her daily life and work.
The Zeta sisters, whom George met, served as models for how she wanted to conduct herselfâtheir careers and life journeys acting as guideposts in hers. The mindset of these seasoned Zetas served as a motivator for her throughout her college journey and a continuous reminder of the support network found within the Zetas: âWe all have these passions that feed into each other and help each other.â Through the support network provided, George always felt assured in her focus and in the criminal-justice-based work she produced, reflecting that the support she received from this sisterhood was âone-of-a-kindâ and that it was a community she needed to get through college. Since graduating, George has continued to receive support and encouragement from her sisters as she pursues a graduate studies program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Georgeâs experience has grounded and reinforced her personal focus, showing her the necessity of criminal justice and the importance of protecting the underrepresented and marginalized, as well as their spaces.
Kaelyn De la Cruz, a current Geneseo student majoring in Communications with an urban studies minor, recently joined the Iotas in the Fall 2025 semester and was eager to sing the organization’s praises and share her experience thus far. Being a member of the Caribbean Student Association and the Educational Opportunity Program on campus, De la Cruz wanted to enhance her passion for âequity-driven, culturally based, and community focused work,â and saw the principles of the Zetas as a means to accomplish such: âWhat ultimately propelled me to become a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was its principles of Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood, and how the woman within this organization embodied these principles.â
De La Cruz went on to reflect on the members she has met thus far, noting the motivating compassion and care she has encountered from everyone she interacts with. It’s been through these instances that, while brief, she has begun doing the same: âI see my membership as a guide to how I communicate, advocate, and show up in the professional work I doâŠcarrying this community with me has felt grounding, empowering, and deeply affirming.â Though De La Cruz has yet to graduate, she feels assured that her path forward is âdriven by a responsibility to use my education to contribute to more just and inclusive systems,â motivated, in part, by the Zetas support.
The stories of the Zeta Iota sisters are filled with instances of mutual support, illustrating the power that can come from community-focused work and the difference community support can make. Through sharing their stories and building others up, the Zetas have fostered generations of individuals who carry themselves with professionalism and grace. To George, her experience has shown her the importance of âshow[ing] up for yourself, not to doubt myself and to be confident in myself [and] that I have assurance in myself to be an effective leader, an effective member of my community, and an effective advocateâ; while to De La Cruz âIt reminds me that excellence and service are deeply connected and how that can look in combination with leadership.â Though a mere minutiae of the college experience, the simple access to and availability of supportive peers can help foster generations of individuals whose principles act as models for those around them.