Just weeks into her freshman year, Kennedy Brooks, Mississippi, got a call that shattered her world. Her best friend had passed away in a tragic car accident. In an instant, everything stopped.
On that same morning, Kennedy was supposed to attend Delta Rho Chapter’s first new member sisterhood retreat. “I went because I knew Emily would have wanted me to,” says Kennedy. “But I barely made it through 15 minutes.”
Kennedy remembers sitting at the dining room table in the Kappa kitchen, scrolling through Facebook and seeing the video of the crash. In that moment, she completely fell apart. “I can still feel that gut-wrenching pain like it happened yesterday,” says Kennedy.
She stopped eating. Stopped functioning. Her heart was broken, and she couldn’t see a way forward. She didn’t recognize who she had become and felt as though she had lost a significant part of herself. Kennedy says she was ready to pack up, leave Ole Miss, and disappear completely.
But then something incredible happened … Kappa showed up.
“This sisterhood saved me. I’m still here — still standing — because Kappa helped me find my way back to myself.”
– Kennedy Brooks
“Girls who were strangers just days before became my lifeline,” says Kennedy. “I’ll never forget Lauren Fielder walking into my dorm room, lifting me off the floor — literally and emotionally — and taking me to McAlister’s for my first meal in days. That wasn’t just food; it was a reminder that I mattered. That I wasn’t alone. That maybe, just maybe, there was still light ahead.”
Kappa became Kennedy’s safe harbor in the storm she was facing. It became the key to unlocking the part of her she thought was gone forever — the key to finding hope, friendship, and herself again. During Kennedy’s darkest and most painful season of life, Kappa wasn’t just a sorority she joined on campus; it was her saving grace — friends and sisters she could rely on and who helped her navigate such a devastating time.
“This sisterhood saved me,” she says. “It gave me strength, purpose, and the kind of love that never wavers. I’m still here — still standing — because Kappa helped me find my way back to myself.”
