On August 28^th, the North Carolina Chapter had its first official meeting of the Semester. Chancellor Alvey presented a welcome speech to the brotherhood. Attendance was very high with active and non-active members. Brothers enjoyed seeing each other after a long summer break. Upcoming events such as service, social, and candidate week were discussed. Officers also took pictures for the North Carolina Chapter Website. 

Our service committee organized an Alpha Zeta blood donation Red Cross Blood Drive on the North Carolina State University Campus in the Carmichael Gym on Friday August 30th. Brothers signed up for donation times and at those times brothers were checked in at the registration desk  and given a name tag and reading material highlighting the requirements of donating blood. After donating blood brothers relaxed in the resting area of the gym where food and drinks were provided. At the end of the experience each of the 9 brothers who participated received a shirt stating that they were saving lives by donating blood. Overall it was a wonderful bonding experience for brothers. The Red Cross states that one donor can save up to three lives.  This event was an excellent way for us to serve the community at large, and enabled us to promote service to the NC State community. 

On Wednesday September 4^th, brothers participated in a school wide involvement fair. This fair was held in the Carmichael gym on the North Carolina State University Campus. The involvement faired aimed to provide students the opportunity to get more involved on campus with various clubs, fraternities/sororities, and various other social or academic groups. The North Carolina Chapter set up a booth with pictures and commentaries about activities and experiences of brothers in hopes of attracting students of CALS and its allied fields to consider rushing for Alpha Zeta. The brothers who participated in the event had the opportunity to communicate with the student body about what interests them and how they could possibly fit into the Alpha Zeta Brotherhood. Overall there was a lot of interest from students which was really exciting to see as brothers.

At 6:00 pm on Wednesday September 4^th, brothers gathered together to share a delicious potluck meal to celebrate the beginning of a wonderful semester. Brothers brought various dishes ranging from homemade to store bought. Some alumni came for the festivities which was great. It was truly a wonderful time for catching up fellowship before the meeting. 

September 10-12th, the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta held our information sessions for our prospective new members. Censor Cave gave a wonderful welcome speech each night of rush to the prospective members. Various committee members spoke about the activities they had planned for the semester and a powerpoint was presented as well. On September 10th, we served baked zitti that was made by one of our censor's with a cost. On September 11th, each of the brothers brought a dish for our potluck. We had a lot of great food that night. On September 12th, we had pizza from Little Cesars. Drinks, cups, and plates for the duration of the information sessions was provided by some of the brothers. Over the course of the three days there were quite a lot of people that came out to Rush. The most amount of prospective members came on Wednesday night. At this time applications were given out to those who were seriously considering rushing Alpha Zeta. Brother attendance was very high for the rush events due to the importance of sharing their experiences in hopes that it will interest prospective members into joining this great brotherhood. 

On Sunday September 15th, the brothers of the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta met to interview our potential candidates.  We all met at Weaver labs at 11am in business professional dress and brought breakfast or brunch items to share.  We started the day by welcoming the potential candidates, showing them a slide show presentation of some of our activities, and singing the AZ friendship song.  These interviews gave us an opportunity to get to know these talented individuals and a time for them to ask us questions.  We interviewed close to twenty potential candidates and extended over fifteen bids! We are very excited about this candidate class and can't wait for them to become brothers of our fraternity.

On Wednesday September 2^nd, the North Carolina Chapter hosted a potluck dinner for all of the new brothers that made it through candidate week. This allowed old and new brothers to interact on a more personal level over something that our brotherhood loves dearly, which is food! After the meeting, all thirteen of the newest brothers were initiated into the fraternity. This was a very special moment signifying the growth of our fraternity with truly great new brothers and we hope they grow with the fraternity, making their mark as they go. 

On Friday October 4^th, Brothers attended Karaoke night at the Brickhouse in Raleigh, NC. This is a new activity that was created by the social committee this semester. At the Brickhouse brothers socialized over music, food, and pool. Attendance was high with twenty brothers. Members of the North Carolina Chapter love to socialize outside of the meetings. 

On Wednesday September 25^th  from 1pm to 2pm, a few brothers of the North Carolina Chapter, including all five officers, spray painted the free expression tunnel on NC State University’s main campus to promote the ice cream social for Dean Linton’s new ice cream flavor. The brothers and dean spray painted the date, time, and location of the event. Also cherries and phrases like "delicious” were spray painted to represent the ice cream flavor and entice the students into attending the event. All of the brothers and the dean were covered in paint and spray paint by the end of the event.  It was a pleasure to be able to have some fun with the new Dean of CALS and get to know him a little better on a little more personal level. 

The North Carolina State Fair is a ten-day annual event running October 17th-27th and is located in Raleigh. The fair brings people from all over North Carolina to Raleigh, and provides many opportunities for our members to get involved in service to agriculture. This year, over 1 million people visited the fair. Our main fundraising opportunity during the fair is through the North Carolina Pork Council. Throughout the week, at least 8 brothers a day voluteered their time working five hour shifts. We dedicated over 100 hours as a fraternity to the Pork Chop Shop.  During that time, brothers took food orders, prepared plates, operated cash registers, washed dishes, and helped keep the dining area clean. North Carolina is second in leading swine production in the United States and theNorth Carolina Pork Council is a long-time industry friend of Alpha Zeta. The Pork Chop Shop is a great way for our chapter to promote and serve the swine industry in North Carolina. The event was also a great way to meet people who are involved in all aspects of agriculture, both customers as well as other friends of the Pork Council people with whom we worked. This year, there were over 10,000 customers come through the Pork Chop Shop. After all the profits were totaled by the Pork Council, Alpha Zeta was given a monetary donation for our services. 

Most brothers enjoyed the social aspect of the fair after volunteering with Pork Chop Shop. They rode rides, watched fireworks and tasted various fried foods. Unfortunately this was our last year serving food with the Pork Council. Alpha Zeta will be providing service to the Pork Council during the fair or another event during the year.

The fair is organized and operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. We enjoyed meeting and talking with NC Commissioner of Agriculture, Steve Troxler, about what work goes into planning the fair as he came through the line at Pork Chop Shop. We also served barbeque to a local television news anchor. This year we had a "bumper crop of fun” at the State Fair, and cannot wait for next year