Brothers at the Alpha Zeta table participated in the annual Monster Mash at the Cook/Douglass Rec. Center. They gave out candy to the children of New Brunswick and played a game with them, so that the children could have a safe place to participate in trick or treating.  Activities included a haunted house trail; a sensory station, candy give out station, a photo booth and a mummy wrap game station. Cook Chapter’s booth offered face painting and a bean bag toss game for the children.

One of our Alpha Zeta alumni from Rutgers, Devon Craft, and her family were victims of Hurricane Sandy.  She reached out to the Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta, here at Rutgers, for volunteers to assist her family in removing debris and cleaning up her home. They needed to dispose of belongings, mold, and throw out destroyed pieces of their house. We extended this need for help out to the brotherhood in hopes that some brothers would be able to volunteer their time over the weekend to help Devon and her family.

Brothers helped Farmers Against Hunger glean collard greens at Giamerese Farm. Gleaning is the harvesting of produce that would otherwise go to waste to be donated to a food bank. Cook chapter helps with gleaning every fall, to help promote agriculture and give some of our brothers experience in a farm setting, as some of them want to become farmers in the future.

On December 7th, the brothers of Cook Chapter celebrated the end of the semester with Winter Formal. Fifty-three brothers and alumni spent formal at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, along with their guests.  Brothers dressed to impress in their formal best, attended a banquet-style dinner and enjoyed dancing the night away while the DJ played their favorite music.  Certain brothers were given awards, which included the brother with the most service hours, best big/little pair, hardest working brother and unsung heroes.

Celebration of fall season where brothers participated in an annual Friendsgiving celebration. For this event, the brothers played games, shared stories, and had a pot-luck style dinner.  Brothers gathered together to witness a fireworks display to end a very memorable and fun night.

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The Big Chill is an annual charity 5k race run by Rutgers Programming. Each participant was required to donate a $10 toy for homeless children. About 8,000 people participated and close to 9,500 toys were donated. With the extra donations, Rutgers was able to purchase 350 winter coats for the children as well. Most of our brothers and alumni ran the race, but there were some who walked the three miles, or volunteered (starting at 6am) to help run the race. The event was a huge success.

During Anti-Hazing week at Rutgers University brothers and new members attended various workshops to learn about what hazing is and how to prevent the spread of it at Rutgers University. New members were also encouraged to attend a workshop sponsored by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs where they were taught the value of brotherhood and the negative effects and consequences of hazing. It was an information week for us all and we gained several ideas about fun bonding events that we could carry out in our own new member semester, one of which included a bake-off, an idea the brotherhood really enjoyed.

On Sunday October 28th, members of the Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta set aside some time to bond with each other by going to a Battleview Orchards for their annual apple and pumpkin picking. Our chapter supported this local, sustainable family owned farm by enjoying their organically grown produce. The brothers were also able to enjoy pie, apple cider, hot apple donuts, and many other baked goods, all of which are made with organic produce that can be found right on the farm. For the members of the Cook Chapter this was a great way to celebrate the changing of the seasons.

Fall Festival, on Sunday, October 14, 2012, is a Rutgers Gardens Sponsored celebration of the Fall Season in its entirety while also showcasing the beauty and hard work of the Gardens association. Alpha Zeta brothers worked at the Fall Festival and their jobs included directing children and families through the scavenger hunt where participants were able to appreciate the variety of plant species and general beauty of the location. Brothers also helped set up the signs, the food court, and clean up at the of six hour day. It was a wonderful contribution to the community.

Every member of the fraternity has a family made up of their bigs, grandbigs, cousins and so on. In our chapter, it is a tradition for each family to have a family dinner, normally once per semester to hang out, eat good food. It allows alumni who attend to get to know the new brothers in their family more closely. They share good food, games like charades and taboo, and often times a good movie is thrown in the mix. Below are a few pictures of families during their dinner celebrations.