On Friday, November 7th, Brothers Nicole Borba and Ariel Diggan toured Pitman Farms chicken and turkey ranch in Orange Cove as well as the processing plant in Sanger. It is nice to see members touring the Ag industry and developing their character. The Cal Epsilon chapter encourages our members to get involved outside of our fraternity and we like to share their events with Alpha Zeta. We will have a chance for members to tour Pitman farms mid December through an organized tour.

This Veteran’s Day, the Florida Chapter traveled to Orlando, Florida for our annual Sea World Trip.  Our journey began at 6:30 am at the University of Florida where we loaded into cars and began the two-hour trek down south.  Upon arrival we had a behind-the-scenes educational tour of the Arctic animal exhibits.  We visited the beluga whales and penguins and got up close and personal with the seals and sea lions.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and made sure to answer all of our questions. ...

After a long journey throughout the semester the Omega Class proved their commitment to the Fraternity of Alpha Zeta and made it to initiation. We initiated 27 new brothers into the Cook Chapter among a gathering of brothers and alumni, who were there to welcome them into our chapter. Congratulations Omega Class!

The second mixer was a great success this semester as new members and brothers repeated most of the activities from the first mixer, but now they had the chance to meet each other on a more personal level. After meeting most brothers for the first time, the new members were given the opportunity to learn more about the brothers on a different level. The goal of this meeting was to help integrate the new members into the fraternity by building stronger bonds with brothers and meeting new brothers for the first time. All of the new members had a great time as they formed bonds with more brothers in the fraternity and became closer to everyone.

The annual Monster Mash was held at Rutgers University on October 24, 2014. This event creates a safe place for the children of the New Brunswick community to have some Halloween fun and get some candy. Many different organizations of the Rutgers community volunteer to run a table. The brothers of the Alpha Zeta Cook Chapter ran a table with a fun Halloween-themed game the kids could play to get candy. The children were able to try to throw a plastic spider so it would stick into a spider web decoration. They had so much fun playing the game, and some even came back to play again! It was an enjoyable event for all and the brothers were glad they could help the New Brunswick community.

The Haunted Bamboo Forest was a philanthropy event held at the Rutgers Gardens, where the Cook Chapter set up a haunted walk for the children through the bamboo forest. While the entire night was free, we were collecting donations for the preservation of the Rutgers Gardens. Furthermore, our event coincided with the weekly farmer’s market at the Rutgers Gardens, where people could come to the gardens to purchase fresh produce from local farmers and small businesses. Overall, the event was designed to promote awareness of a place that has contributed so much to the promotion of agriculture at Rutgers University, while providing local children a fun Halloween experience. Afterwards, the children and their families were encouraged to return to Cook Campus for the annual Monster Mash.

Since the Cook Chapter has a large and active alumni association, we decided to book a banquet room in a local restaurant in order to give the new members and opportunity to meet chapter alumni and learn about Alpha Zeta from a different perspective. Many of our alumni came out to meet the new members and share their experiences with them about being brothers and students at Rutgers University. This was both a meaningful experience for the new members as well as the alumni. 

The Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta held its Installment Ritual 2 on October 10, 2014. During this ritual, the new members got to meet some alumni for the first time. Then they were surprised by the brothers as they were actually at a surprise mixer. Many new members, alumni, and brothers got to bond and new friendships develop. The new members were definitely surprised! Everyone had so much fun and the new members are excited to continue their initiation semester into Alpha Zeta.

On October 12, 2014, the Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta held its New Member Project, a service project held every pledge semester to help the community while promoting brotherhood bonding with the new members. It was held at Rutgers Gardens, the philanthropy project of the chapter. Together the brothers and new members helped clean up the bamboo forest. It gave the chance for the new members to experience a big part of what the Cook Chapter’s commitment to service and fellowship.

On September 20, 2014, the Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta had its New Member Retreat. This retreat helps the new members get to know each other as a class. They played games like ice breakers and got a chance to talk with each other. The new members had a great time and cannot wait to continue their journey to becoming a brother of Alpha Zeta.