Dana Wilkerson Lynch works in the division of investment services for the state of Georgia. She lives in Roswell.
My journey to Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. began in the summer of 1987, although I didn’t know it at the time.
I was working on Riverside Drive in New York City as a summer intern with the General Board of Global Ministries (a division of the United Methodist Church).
One of my favorite people, a man I even referred to as my uncle, talked to me about his fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. His name was the Rev. Clyde A. Anderson. He loved his fraternity and he loved his sisters, the ladies of Zeta Phi Beta.
His wife Loretta was a Zeta. They had several long talks with me that summer about Zeta and the bond between the two organizations. But they encouraged me to do my own investigation when I arrived on the campus of North Carolina Central University in the fall of 1987.
Of course if you know anything about Zeta back in the 1980's, membership was definitely more about quality than quantity. Actually even in the 21st Century that hasn't changed.
The pledge lines in the ‘80s were small and the Gamma Gamma chapter membership at NCCU was dwarfed by those of the Alpha Chi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha and the Alpha Lambda chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.
It was easy to see how young ladies could be mesmerized by the swarm of pink & green and red & white paraphernalia that was always on campus, and I was one of them.
By the fall of 1988 I decided that I was ready to venture into the world of Greek life so I attended rush for one of the more “popular” sororities.
Little did I know that an issue with a grade from spring semester of 1988 would jeopardize my chance to be on a fall 1988 line, making that one of the pivotal moments in my entire college career.
Once it became evident that I wouldn’t be able to pledge while I was challenging my grade, I realized that the sorority I thought I wanted to be in really wasn’t the one for me. The conversations from the summer of 1987 began to play over and over in the back of my mind.
Pledging wasn’t a foreign concept to me by the time I was ready to become a Zeta.
I had “walked band line” the very first week of my freshman year and became an Alpha Sweetheart.
I also pledged Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity in the fall of 1989.
I decided to wait until my senior year to join a sorority because I was heavy into my major and cost accounting was not my friend. I was still marching in the band and I was heavily involved in Phi Beta Lambda.
Waiting was risky and I knew that. What if they didn’t accept me because I would be graduating? That thought ran through my mind many times but I was satisfied with my decision to wait because I was at NCCU to obtain my bachelors of business administration with a concentration in accounting -- and for three years that was my first priority.
Rush signs were only posted for a short time, sometimes for only a few hours, so you had to pay attention.
The Zetas had put their sign up in March of 1992.
Gamma Gamma was having its Spring Rush. My time had finally come. I went to rush knowing that the odds were stacked against me, but I did have one thing in my favor,
I had several friends who were Zetas -- Tyra Leazer, Vonee Fleming, Zandra Hopkins, Linda Williams – so they knew me and they knew my character. These ladies knew me from the band and I had been a big sister to several of them when they walked band Line a few years earlier.
If they chose me I would now be the student and they would be the teachers, but this time there was so much more to learn.
By the end of the week invitation letters had been delivered and I received one.
This was the beginning of my journey to the Land of Royal Blue and White. I would join 13 other ladies, making us the largest line Gamma Gamma chapter had taken over to date.
My Line Sisters: Vanessa Jarrell (my Ace), Shelby Smith, Takenya Brooks, Gladys Washington, Lisa Purdie, Dorlisa Terry (my front), Michelle Davis (my back), Coretta Carr, Kimberly Harrison, Lisa Harris, Sonja Capers, Brenadette Baldwin and Tarsher Patterson (my Tail).
I was number 7. Dana Wilkerson. Line Name: Devious.
“We are Gamma Gamma Chapter - Spring 1992. We are ‘Rescue 911.’”
During our process -- we went over on April 15, 1992 -- we learned what sisterhood was all about.
I graduated from North Carolina Central University in May 1992.
It wasn’t long before I moved back to New York and my life as an adult began. Life sometimes takes unexpected twists and turns, but you have to go with the flow.
By 1994 I was a mom and a wife, and before I knew it, Zeta had become a long-lost friend.
It would be 18 years before we would find each other again. It’s not that I didn’t think about Zeta.
I thought of her often and had fond memories of my undergraduate Greek life experience. The problem was that I had let life get in the way of my relationship with Zeta. She allowed me to live my life until I was ready to pursue her once again.
The thing about Zeta is that she is very patient. She is like an old friend. It doesn’t matter how long you been out of touch because things just pick up right where they left off when you let her back into your life.
In 2010, I decided to attend NCCU’s Homecoming -- something I had not done since 1993.
My love for Zeta was strong again and the fire that always burned in my heart for her had become so much more than a flickering flame. I was once again on fire for Zeta. I was going home. I was going to where I was made.
I began to remember why she chose me, and yes, SHE CHOSE ME.
You see, you don’t choose Zeta, she chooses you. She sits patiently as she allows you to examine all of your options. But she knows who belongs to her and you can’t deny her when she begins to pull on your heartstrings.
When Zeta calls, you will answer and the beat of your heart will cry ΖΦΒ.
I began to realize that I could no longer live without Zeta so I sought out a graduate chapter in the Metro Atlanta area where I live.
I became financial and active again in 2011 and I haven’t looked back.
Since then, I have attended four state Conferences, five regional conferences, two national conferences, and I was certified in 2013 under the Zeta Organizational Leadership program.
I served as undergraduate advisor to the Theta Rho Chapter at Kennesaw State University from 2012-2014 and I currently serve as president of the Rho Epsilon Zeta Chapter.
I am active in the Cobb County National Pan-Hellenic Council and currently service as chairperson of the 2016 Metro Atlanta Sigma/Zeta Joint Founders’ Day Committee.
I ran for state office in 2014, and while I didn’t win I learned a lot about myself and my resilience. Zeta never gave up on me during my 18-year absence and I will never give up on her.
Both of my daughters attended HBCUs.
My oldest daughter graduated from my alma mater, NCCU in December 2015.
My youngest daughter is a sophomore at Florida A&M University.
As they both entered high school, my thoughts turned to the possibility of them one day becoming third generation Legacy Members since their paternal grandmother is a Zeta also.
No one knows how this will turn out. My oldest daughter completed her undergraduate career without joining a sorority. My youngest daughter still has two years to make a decision but I will not pressure her.
All I can hope is that I have set a good example in living out my sorority’s principles of “Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood and Finer Womanhood.”
For the Love of Zeta.
