Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Sixtieth Debutante Presentation

Jada Kelsey Bowman

Staff Reports

The members of Beta Lambda Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. a community-conscious, action orientated organization, hosted their Sixtieth Debutante Presentation on Saturday, May 12. The theme of this year’s presentation was “A Diamond in the Making: Bright, Brilliant and Beautiful.”

The purpose of the Debutante Presentation is to introduce eligible young ladies to society in a proper manner. The presentation stresses one of the organization’s founding precepts, the “Ideal of Finer Womanhood.”

Sorors – the sorority sisters – emphasize reputable character, high ideals of conduct and scholarship, leadership ability, and worthwhile ambitions among the young women, and they strive to make the presentation a memorable event in their lives.

Aubrielle Simone Wallace	Maya Celena Bacoate

Proceeds from the Debutante Presentation are used for scholarships and contributions to community service organizations and humanitarian projects.

Sarah Hart, president, and sorors Barbara Lewis, Norma Baynes, Venus Miller, and Harriet Ray were co-chairs, and members presented six young ladies.

Chosen as Queen was Jada Kelsey Bowman, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Randy Bowman and a rising senior at Asheville High School.

First Runner-up was Aubrielle Simone Wallace, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Henderson Wallace, also a rising senior at AHS. Second Runner-up was Maya Celena Bacoate, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Bacoate III and a 2012 graduate of T.C. Roberson High School.

Rachel Diandra Downie

The three other debutantes were Rachel Diandra Downie, daughter of Mr. David T. and Mrs. Deborah E. Downie, a rising senior at AHS; Gennea Wallace, daughter of First Sgt. Christopher Peynado and Carla Wallace, a 2012 graduate of McDowell High School; and Alexus Mills, a rising senior at T.C. Roberson HS, daughter of Mr. William Mills and Pastor Diana Mills.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority was founded at Howard University in Washington, DC in January 1920. Its ideals then were scholarship, service, and finer womanhood. Although these ideals have been stated in various ways over the years, Beta Lambda Zeta Chapter supports projects that remain true to the sorority’s founding aims and objectives.

Gennea Wallace	Alexus Mills

Beta Lambda Zeta Chapter was chartered in Asheville in 1945. Since that time, the chapter has sought to highlight Finer Womanhood by sponsoring Debutante Presentations and honoring outstanding community women during their annual Finer Womanhood Week celebrations.

Scholarship grants have been awarded to young women and men pursuing higher education. Service has been rendered to Asheville and surrounding communities by members in areas of education, social service, social activism, religion, and social and cultural programming.

Sorority members are Sarah Weston Hart, President; Johnnie Walker, First Vice President; Vivian Ridley, Second VP; Norma Baynes, Third VP; Harriet Ray, Secretary; Barbara Lewis, Treasurer; Thelma Porter, Benevolence Coordinator; and Esmeling Cabral, Annie Fowler, Bernice Gash, Mabel Hoskins, Betty Irvine, Agnes Jones, Venus Miller, Thelma Porter, and Althea O. Watson.