Overview:
Maya Glover, a sophomore studying architecture at Cal Poly, has helped bring back the Zeta Phi Beta sorority to the university, a part of the historic "Divine Nine" coalition of Black Greek-letter organizations. Glover's father, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, was a part of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, which has also been reinstated on campus. The Zetas and Sigmas are hoping to create a diverse community at Cal Poly, where less than a percent of the undergraduate student population is Black or African American.
Maya Glover grew up surrounded by brothers and sisters. She witnessed their generational bonds and strolling at the Christmas events and fundraisers. But, Glover wasn’t related to most of them.
They were alumni of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
Maya’s father, Victor Glover, a 1999 Cal Poly alumnus and NASA astronaut, was a part of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Built on a foundation of “leadership, service and brotherhood,” Victor continued to stay in touch with the friends he made while at Cal Poly.
“It is truly special that my daughter Maya helped make that happen,” Victor wrote in an email. “I am proud of her and all of our brothers and sisters of the dove! It is beautiful to see the true blue family still thriving there on the central coast.”
Now, his two daughters, Maya and Genesis, attend Cal Poly and are active in the Zeta Phi Beta community.
For Maya, growing up seeing the successful women from the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and their bond at these events made her excited for the day when she could also find a community with the Zetas. She is determined to build these bonds and create a community like the ones she witnessed as a child.
During her senior year of high school, it was disheartening to learn the “Divine Nine” — the historic coalition of Black Greek-letter organizations — were no longer on campus and hadn’t been for 25 years.
“It wasn’t that they were never here because my dad was,” Glover said. “They all graduated, and no one just kept them going.”
The return of historically Black fraternities and sororities to campus marks more than just the revival of these Greek organizations. For some students on campus, it’s the chance to build a diverse community and show future students that they will have a place at Cal Poly.
Now a sophomore studying architecture, Glover has helped grow a community of seven girls and counting in the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
The Zeta Phi Beta sorority and their brothers at Phi Beta Sigma fraternity are two of the “Divine Nine” that have been reinstated on campus.
How it happened
Glover decided she was going to bring the Zetas back to Cal Poly last January.
After attending the Afrikan Black Coalition Conference at UC Santa Barbara, Glover decided to take action. It was there she saw the Zetas stroll, identical to when she was a little girl.
Strolling is a choreographed dance that sororities and fraternities perform to popular music, Glover said it’s a visual representation of their unity.
“You see the Cal Poly students just in awe of everything because we go to a PWI [predominantly white institution], so this is never our surrounding. So we were all like in heaven.”
Maya Glover, architecture sophomore
She asked her dad for connections, including Zeta and Cal State Long Beach 2005 alum Mosi Odum. With the help of Odom and family members, Glover wrote a mission statement to Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong detailing her motivation for bringing the sorority back to Cal Poly.
“We as humans have a need for connection, and I intend to help fellow Black students nurture the cultural side of this need by providing them with not a restrictively Black space, but an intimately Black one,” she wrote in her mission statement.
Glover learned she needed five girls to restart the sorority. She gathered prospective members and engaged interest with small events. As time went on, some had to drop out due to scheduling issues or other sorority requirements, such as GPA.
Finally, six months later, the Zetas were officially reinstated on campus.
“It’s always such a cliche thing when people are like, you can do anything you put your mind to, and all the things like that,” Glover said. “But I was definitely living that moment like it was just because I wanted to see it happen and it was really, really fun.”
The Phi Beta Sigmas come back to Cal Poly
A similar journey took place for Tyrone Butler and Aaron Price Jr. when reinstating the Sigmas.
Butler, a computer science junior and president of Phi Beta Sigma, noticed a gap in Greek life during his sophomore year.
Butler said that after one of his friends dropped his fraternity due to scheduling issues, he saw how he felt disconnected from that community.
“It was kind of a joke at first, like, we should just start our own fraternity,” Butler said. “And then when I really thought about it, I was like, if we can do it, then we might as well do it.”
Like Glover, he had grown up hearing about the Divine Nine and became determined to bring one of these fraternities back to campus.
After hearing Glover speak about bringing the Zetas back during a Black Student Union (BSU) meeting, he asked her about bringing back their brother fraternity, the Sigmas.
Butler started recruiting friends and interested members. Last November, the Sigmas were officially reinstated.
Butler said he sees the fraternity as a true representation of their motto: “Culture for service and service for humanity.”
“I wanted something of our own where new freshmen that are Black they can at least have some culture here.”
Tyrone Butler, computer science junior
“I wanted something of our own where new freshmen that are Black they can at least have some culture here,” Butler said. “And so I feel like that would make them feel more comfortable coming into their first year and knowing that they have their own people here to connect with.”
Price Jr., an electrical engineering junior and a member of the Cal Poly Men’s Basketball team, was hesitant to join a fraternity at first, having to find time between his basketball schedule and other commitments. Once he heard that his roommate, Butler, was trying to bring back the Sigmas, he remembered the colors his cousin used to wear while attending university in Ohio.
“I was like, ‘Wait a minute, Sigma. Like, y’all wear blue and white?’” Price Jr. said of his initial conversation with Butler about joining the Sigmas.
He was instantly reminded of his cousin and the way he would tell stories to Price Jr. about his time as a Sigma.
“Okay, well, maybe this is something I need to make time for,” Price Jr. said.
As both the Zetas and the Sigmas continue to grow and host events, leaders say they hope to show current and future students of color that they will have a community at Cal Poly.
According to Cal Poly records from October 2024, only 0.76% of the total undergraduate student population was Black or African American.
“You didn’t have to tell me, once I first got here, that Black people hadn’t even made up a percentage of the population yet,” Glover said.
After years of absence, the students of Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Beta fraternities hope to continue this legacy at Cal Poly for future generations.
“We’re a family at the end of the day,” Butler, a founding member of the Sigmas, said. “We will always be here, no matter what if you do want to join this, or if you don’t, you can always have somebody to reach out to.”
If you’re looking to get involved with the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, find them on Instagram @calpolysigmas or send them an email at calpolysigmas1984@gmail.com.
If you’re looking to get involved with the Zeta Phi Beta sorority find them on Instagram @calpolyzetas or send them an email at calpoly.zphib@gmail.com.