Honoring Six Decades of Excellence

Just as 2024 came to a close, the Alpha Zeta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International gathered at Columbia Nursing to celebrate its 60th anniversary and the December holidays.

Amy Staley, MS ’24, a patient care director at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital who was inducted into to the Alpha Zeta chapter of Sigma as a student at Columbia Nursing, helped organize and attended the event and was recently elected one of nine Sigma Youth Representatives to the United Nations.

“I’ll be representing Sigma by promoting leadership and elevating the voices of nurses at events hosted by the United Nations, such as the General Assembly each fall,” Staley explains. “I’ll be advocating for the nursing profession, influencing policy change, and seeking out ways to bring the voices of nurses to the table in these global spaces.”

Penelope Buschman, BS ’64, DNP ’04, now a professor emerita, helped found Alpha Zeta at Columbia Nursing in 1964 and is still active in the chapter. Along with its parent organization—the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing—the chapter aims to develop nurse leaders to improve health care everywhere, offering professional development focused on education, leadership, career development, evidence-based nursing, research, and scholarship. Members also staff local health events and collect donations for the community.

Sigma has more than 100,000 members in 600 chapters worldwide, while the Alpha Zeta chapter has more than 400 members around the globe.

Columbia Nursing’s Alpha Zeta chapter is among the largest in the organization. “We as a chapter are extremely grateful for our founding members, such as Penny Buschman, for starting the chapter and providing all of us the opportunity to be a part of this great organization,” says Karol DiBello, DNP, an associate professor of nursing at CUMC and current chapter president. “It’s an honor to be a part of it, and particularly part of something that’s been going so long and so strong.”

In 2024, DiBello notes, the Columbia Nursing chapter helped send three PhD students to the Sigma Rising Star Conference in Singapore. The chapter also provided financial support to its active members with scholarships and research grants, held several educational events, and inducted 102 new student and nurse leader members.

Yolanda Stevenson, MS ’23, pediatric complex care manager at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, gave the student address at the 2024 ceremony. She encouraged inductees to get involved in the various initiatives that the chapter offers to grow as a member.

“You will find leadership that will challenge you to move beyond your comfort zone,” Stevenson said. “Don’t be afraid to step up and follow through.”

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Columbia Nursing Magazine.