Former Zeta Beta Tau sweetheart looks back on her experience

Gabriella Pinos/Assistant Entertainment Director

When Valeska Pella was invited to the Zeta Beta Tau chapter at FIU in 2016, she did not know what to expect. After the reunion, she left with a ZBT shirt and dozens of new fraternity brothers.

“They said, ‘we have a surprise for you,’” said Pella. “And they gave me the shirt, and it said ‘Sweetheart ‘16’ on the back.”

In Greek life, a sweetheart is someone who has demonstrated devotion and dedication to a fraternity. For many former sweethearts like Pella, now a senior majoring in hospitality management, the title symbolizes a commitment to a fraternity.

“For me, it wasn’t just a title. It’s something more like a vow to a family to help them,” said Pella.

While the process for electing a sweetheart differs in every fraternity, ZBT typically elects a woman who has befriended the brothers, according to ZBT president Santiago Ortiz, and remains crowned for a year.

“Basically, you are like a brother,” said Ortiz. “You are someone who I know I can count on.”

For Pella, this began in 2015 when ZBT attended a pageant hosted by her sorority, Alpha Xi Delta.

“That’s how I got to meet who these men are, and it was something that I felt comfortable being around with them. They don’t judge, they included you in the family, and I just kept coming around and I got the title,” said Pella.

The ZBT sweetheart also has the honor of wearing the fraternity’s letters along with their sorority’s letters, according to Ortiz.

“You have two letters, and that’s a big deal in the Greek community,” said Ortiz. “You have two organizations to represent and live by those values as well.”

Becoming a sweetheart doesn’t come with a set of duties or responsibilities; instead, Pella said that sweethearts support their brothers and choose what to do around them.

“In its pure form, it’s not about the title. There’s not a checklist to get sweetheart. It’s just an honor for someone that gives back because they genuinely want to,” said Ortiz.

During her time as sweetheart, Pella helped ZBT with event planning, including the Golden Empress pageant, their annual philanthropy pageant, which benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Sweethearts also contribute to intermural sports, chapter meetings and adding a “feminine touch” to anything the brothers do.

Pella said that being a sweetheart not only helped her practice for her major, but it allowed her to contribute to the community and dispel common misconceptions about Greeks.

“You always see the bad things of Greek life, but you never see how we raise so much money for philanthropy, how we are very, very involved on campus, how we’re students as well and we’re graduating with our letters and it’s a very meaningful thing,” said Pella.

Aside from sweetheart, ZBT also crowns a philanthropy sweetheart, called a Golden Empress, during their Golden Empress pageant. Other girls, called Zeta Baes, are also chosen and recognized by the fraternity.

Nevertheless, being a fraternity sweetheart and wearing ZBT’s letters is the highest honor of all, according to Ortiz, something he feels encompasses the spirit of Greek life at FIU.

“When you join a Greek organization, something that’s very important is that you’re not just joining an organization, you’re joining a Greek community,” said Ortiz. “Being able to have titles like sweetheart, there’s kind of a tangible symbolism in that someone from another organization can understand another organization’s values and represent them.”

This feeling is also shared by Pella, who said that the support she received from ZBT extended even after her time as sweetheart came to an end.

“In my experience, now past three years, I’ve gotten really, really close to them with every class that comes in,” said Pella. “I loved every minute of it, I don’t regret it in any way.”

Photo courtesy of Santiago Ortiz.