Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia, in 1898. Zeta Tau Alpha was the first women’s fraternity chartered in Virginia—by a special act of the Virginia legislature on March 15, 1902. The Zeta chapter was installed at UT in 1904. Zeta’s colors are turquoise and steel gray, the flower is the white violet, and the patron goddess is Themis. Notable alumnae of the national organization include Erin Andrews, sideline reporter for ESPN; Brigadier General Margaret A. Brewer, the first female general of the US Marine Corps; Betty Buckley, actress; Linda Johnson Robb, board chair of Reading is Fundamental; and Ellen Taaffe Swilich, the first female recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music (1983).
The $4,375,000 Zeta Tau Alpha house in Sorority Village was designed by Bullock Smith & Partners. The contractor was Wilson Construction Group.