Zina Pickens Cruse

Last updated

Zina Pickens Cruse (born May 2, 1963) is an American jurist serving as the 20th Judicial Circuit judge in St. Clair County, Illinois, the first African-American woman to serve in the circuit.

Contents

Education and career

Cruse graduated from Northeast Missouri State in 1985 [1] with her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. [2] She then attended law school at Florida State University College of Law and graduated with her Juris Doctor in 1993. [2]

Cruse started a law firm focused on: Family/ Domestic, Criminal, Real Estate, Not-for-Profit organizations and Bankruptcy. [3] Cruse was appointed as an Associate Judge to the 20th Judicial Circuit in 2009 and was elected as a Circuit Judge in 2012. [3]

On January 31, 1998, in Edwardsville, Illinois, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Upsilon Phi Omega chapter was chartered and Cruse was a chartering general member. [4]

Family

Cruse has a daughter with Mark Cruse, Marissa Cruse. [5] The family resides in Belleville, Illinois. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

Dartmouth College is host to many fraternities and sororities, and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. In 2005, the school stated that 1,785 students were members of a fraternity, sorority, or gender-inclusive Greek house, comprising about 43 percent of all students, or about 60 percent of the eligible student body. Greek organizations at Dartmouth provide both social and residential opportunities for students and are the only single-sex residential option on campus. Greek organizations at Dartmouth do not provide dining options, as regular meal service has been banned in Greek houses since 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honor society</span> Rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers

In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America. Chiefly, the term refers to scholastic honor societies, those that recognize students who excel academically or as leaders among their peers, often within a specific academic discipline.

Professional fraternities, in the North American fraternity system, are organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is restricted to students in that particular field of professional education or study. This may be contrasted with service fraternities and sororities, whose primary purpose is community service, and social fraternities and sororities, whose primary purposes are generally aimed towards some other aspect, such as the development of character, friendship, leadership, or literary ability.

While the traditional social fraternity is a well-established mainstay across the United States at institutions of higher learning, alternatives – in the form of social fraternities that require doctrinal and behavioral conformity to the Christian faith – developed in the early 20th century. They continue to grow in size and popularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha Sigma Tau</span> American collegiate sorority

Alpha Sigma Tau is a national sorority founded November 4, 1899, at Eastern Michigan University. A member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the sorority has 78 active collegiate chapters at colleges and universities around the U.S. and over 65,000+ lifetime members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theta Upsilon Omega</span> Defunct American collegiate fraternity

Theta Upsilon Omega (ΘΥΩ), was a national collegiate fraternity in the United States. Representatives of several local fraternities at a December 1, 1923 meeting of locals, organized by the National Interfraternity Conference, determined to form a new national through amalgamation, resulting in the creation of Theta Upsilon Omega on May 2, 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Omega</span> Defunct American collegiate sorority

Lambda Omega (ΛΩ) was a national collegiate sorority operating in the United States from October 31, 1915 until 1933.

Fraternities and sororities exist for high school students as well as college students. Like their college counterparts, most have Greek letter names. Although there were countless local high school fraternities and sororities with only one or two chapters, many secondary fraternities founded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States grew into national organizations with a highly evolved governing structure and regularly chartered chapters in multiple regions. Many of the local chapters of these national fraternities were not tied to individual high schools but were instead area-based, often drawing membership from multiple high schools in a given area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theta Upsilon</span> Defunct American collegiate womens fraternity

Theta Upsilon (ΘΥ) was a national women's fraternity operating in the United States from February 1921 until May 1962, when the group was absorbed by the Delta Zeta sorority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theta Sigma Upsilon</span> Defunct American collegiate sorority

Theta Sigma Upsilon (ΘΣΥ) was a sorority founded on March 25, 1921 at Emporia State University. It merged with Alpha Gamma Delta at the 22nd international convention of Alpha Gamma Delta at French Lick, Indiana on June 29, 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kappa Beta Pi</span> Legal association

Kappa Beta Pi (ΚΒΠ) is a Legal Association which was formerly a professional law sorority in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Delta Kappa</span>

Sigma Delta Kappa (ΣΔΚ) is a Professional Fraternity in the field of Law. It was founded in 1914 at the University of Michigan Law School.

References

  1. "Zina Renea Cruse". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  2. 1 2 "Zina Pickens Cruse Profile | Belleville, IL Lawyer | Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  3. 1 2 "Honorable Zina Cruse | Circuit Judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit". St. Clair County, IL Democrats. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  4. "Upsilon Phi Omega, Charter Members". ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INC.®. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  5. Williams-Jackson, Gina (ed.). Up The Hill 2019. Jack and Jill of America. pp. 41, 43. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  6. "Cruse, Zina". St. Clair County Bar Association. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  7. Maher, Ann. "Cruse describes new bail reform law aimed at helping poor people, amidst criticism from Justice for Kane and radio host's racial slurs". Madison - St. Clair Record. Retrieved 2021-03-09.