Black History Month: Featuring Whitney Rae Alexander

Whitney Rae Alexander joined the 102-year-old historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. in Spring 2006 while pursuing undergraduate studies at SUNY College at Old Westbury. Whitney received a Bachelor's Degree in Media & Communications and American Studies. Highlights of her vibrant path within the organization include winning the 2012 International Miss Zeta Pageant and being crowned the pageant's 4th and final Zeta Queen. She is the inaugural and current Step Mistress of the award-winning Zeta Long Island Step Team, better known as Z-List. And is also the head coach of the Sigma Kappa Zeta Archonette Step Team, where youth group members rely on her 27 years of stepping experience and warm guiding expertise. 

She is an entrepreneur that is in the business of inspiring confidence in women’s beauty through her makeup artistry, Can’t Stop My Pretty.

What inspired you most to become a member of Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated?

I have always craved community and I knew I wanted to join a sorority after my first semester in college.  I was inspired most by the energy and connection I saw between the existing members. It was authentic and evident inside and outside of official programming.  Zeta felt RIGHT in my spirit and I wanted to be a part of the sisterhood that valued “Quality over Quantity”. 

How has your organization contributed to Black American History? 

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is honored to have formed many wonderful community-based partnerships over the past 102 years. Whether administering our Z-HOPE program (Zetas Helping Other People Excel) or giving financial assistance through our National Educational Foundation, we do so with the understanding that service to the community is our greatest legacy.

One of our greatest contributions to Black American History was Soror Violette Neatley Anderson. She was the first African-American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court on January 29, 1926. She was one of the most prominent advocates of a landmark piece of legislation that helped secure rights and economic mobility for sharecroppers in the South, the Bankhead-Jones Act.

How do you hope to make history? 

I hope to make history by creating a brand that merges Makeup and Ministry, truly uplifting the spirits and confidence levels of young girls and women through the art of makeup. Extending sisterhood to women inside and outside of sorority life.