Generations of Zeta Rho women came together to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary during Harding’s Homecoming weekend.
President senior Caroline Snell has been organizing this event for the past couple months, working closely with the alumni office and vice presidents of Zeta Rho seniors Kimberly Savage and Heidi Tabor. Together, the girls chose the theme “A Heritage of Godly Women.”
“This theme was chosen and is really appropriate because we believe that it is important to recognize those godly women who came before us, influenced us and paved the way for us to have a strong, unified and godly club,” Snell said.
The alumni office had a list of about 1,000 previous Zeta Rho members and invitations were sent out to each and every one of them.
More than 150 past members showed up to the event, making for a very crowded and fun atmosphere, according to Zeta Rho sponsor Terri Rine.
At the event, old members were given the opportunity to write encouraging notes to the new members to read during club week, pictures were taken of the various induction classes and everyone circled up to sing the club songs.
Zeta Rho sponsor Jeanne Burks found the singing to be her favorite part, encouraged by all the different age groups united under the club song, “Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me.”
There is no denying that even though the women did not know each other, there was a special bond among them, Snell said.
“Seeing those older women and their excitement and how their relationships have endured through the years gave me a renewed appreciation for my club,” Snell said. “It also gave me something to look forward to in the future.”
For Tabor, it was the sense of legacy that left her feeling a sense of appreciation.
“It was really neat to see the different traditions represented by all the different classes and talking to the older members to see what stuck around and what had faded out,” Tabor said. “They were thanking us for keeping the club alive and we were thanking them for starting it.”
Throughout the years the club has faced changes in traditions, but the ladies were still able to share a sense of unity at the reunion.
“Getting to hear their stories of club week and just seeing them interact with one another helped me see that even though we won’t always be together physically, we will always be bound by this sisterhood and it is something that we can always hold onto,” Snell said.
