Alumnae of the Geneseo chapter of Zeta Beta Iota sorority (pictured above) spent time this past weekend with current sisters in the sorority. The older and younger generations of this sorority shared their experiences as students on campus. Current sisters in the Geneseo chapter felt inspired by the incredible women they met (courtesy of the zeta beta iota sorority).
The Zeta Beta Iota multicultural sorority on campus recently had its alumnae reunion with women who attended Geneseo from as early as the 1990s. English major senior and sorority president Mya Nazaire and mathematics major senior vice president Kiana Henderson organized this event to rekindle their friendships with former alumnae of the Geneseo chapter. They were both in awe of the successful outcome of the event and grateful they received the opportunity to hear some incredible stories from attendees.
While Henderson initially thought that the event would be structured, she was happily surprised to see how much flow the event had. Through conversations with the women and the bonding activities they all participated in together, she concluded that not much has changed in the years since they graduated.
“Because there was so much planning and a lot of work that went into it, I thought it was going to be like ‘alright, at this time…’ and then we were just going to go through it. There were so many things that I found out. I think we were all kind of amazed by how strong and courageous these women really are,” Henderson said. “Being [together] with them and feeling their energy … There’s not much that has really changed between the years of the chapter and in terms of the generations. We’re pretty similar to them and they are literally us but older. It’s just so great to know that we can kind of just call them for anything.”
One of the discussions the alumnae had with the current sorority members was the experiences of race on campus. From such conversations, Henderson and Nazaire realized how similar their stories and experiences were to all of the women. In addition to experiences on campus, all of the women discussed the sorority itself and the demands of being a sister.
“I think the stories that they told us about their time and I just can’t get over how parallel all of us are. Knowing that this legacy is being continued in a way that we’re doing the same things that they were, and they’re the ones who built this. I’ll never forget that,” Nazaire said. “I feel like that’s something I’ll carry on … to see how successful they are in life now, and that I can find similarities in myself to them [when I am] 20 and they’re in their 50s is just like, [wow].”
One of the weekend’s main successes for both the current members and alumnae was the establishment of different reunion dates. Nazaire expressed both the importance of seeing everyone and also her excitement about seeing all of the sisters in Washington, D.C. in several months, as well as a separate upcoming reunion in Maryland.
In light of the love and compassion that members embraced each other with, Henderson speaks about the motivation she now has, more than ever, to choose strong leaders for the future of the sorority.
“This reunion kind of motivated me to not give up on the chapter. Being in a small chapter, you kind of get discouraged,” Henderson said. “I trust in our decision making to choose women who are really going to be leaders and to help ensure retention for the next X amount of years.”