The Lagniappe Show recently welcomed Professor Angela Allen Bell of Southern University and Carmelita Roberts, Louisiana State Director for Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, as members from across the state arrived in Monroe for the organization’s annual convention. The statewide gathering, hosted at the ULM Hangar, brings together more than 25 chapters from across Louisiana for a weekend of programming, training, and service-centered initiatives.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, founded on January 16, 1920, by five co-eds at Howard University, has spent 105 years grounded in scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhood. Roberts noted that the organization’s presence spans every major campus in Louisiana, reflecting its strong statewide footprint. The sorority was established with encouragement from the brothers of Phi Beta Sigma, who are also holding their statewide convention this weekend in West Monroe.
A central feature of this year’s event is its theme, “The Extraordinary Power of She,” which emphasizes social health, economic justice, and community engagement. The programming encourages members to return to their local chapters equipped with greater awareness of ongoing social issues and the tools to address them.
Professor Bell, who also serves as a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta, is delivering the keynote address. Her message revisits the origins of the sorority, placing its founding in the context of 1920– a period marked by segregation, racial violence, and strict limits on educational access for Black women. Her keynote underscores the founders’ decision to build not just an organization, but a movement rooted in justice and collective uplift. She connects those early struggles to contemporary issues such as voting rights, public service, and civic participation, reinforcing the group’s longstanding commitment to social action.
Among the organization’s current statewide initiatives, Roberts highlighted a mental health awareness project aimed at both undergraduate and graduate members. The effort focuses on education, destigmatization, and support, reflecting the sorority’s ongoing dedication to addressing critical needs within communities.
As the convention unfolds, Zeta Phi Beta members from across Louisiana are gathering in Monroe to celebrate sisterhood, receive training, and continue a legacy of service that has extended for more than a century.
