A Sisterhood to Lean On

BY LAURA KNOBEL (IOTA ALPHA, ALUMNAE INITIATES), ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF LIFETIME ENGAGEMENT

Each Alpha Chi Omega member has a special story she can share about when a sister supported her through a challenging time. For Lainey Bradley (née Forde, Alpha Upsilon, The University of Alabama), the support of the Alpha Chi sisterhood started long before she officially became a member.

Growing up in North Carolina as the youngest of three girls, Lainey became a proud graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (home of our Epsilon Chi collegiate chapter), where she transferred after completing her first undergraduate year at a private women’s college. Her two older sisters Lindsay and Lesley joined the Epsilon Chi chapter in 1984 and 1987, respectively; Lainey hoped to follow in their footsteps, but her courseload and the recruitment schedule prevented her from doing so.

“Because I didn’t graduate as a member of my sisters’ Alpha Chi Omega chapter, there has been a part of me that has always wondered what my undergraduate experience would have been like if I had made a different decision,” Lainey shares. After college, Lainey went on to get her master’s degree in special education. She married her husband Phillip (an alumnus of Sigma Nu Fraternity) in 1997, and they moved to the suburbs of Atlanta to grow their careers and family together.

Although she was not a member herself, Lainey always understood the impact that Alpha Chi Omega had in her sisters’ lives, never more so than when Lindsay battled metastatic breast cancer for 11 years. “I witnessed many examples of Alpha Chi Omega sisters reaching out to offer encouragement and prayers during her cancer journey … Those same sisters have shown kindness to me when I have needed it. Alpha Chi Omega members have always reflected commitment and loyalty.”

Lindsay passed away in July 2021, but her influence on Lainey, Lainey’s daughter Julia (Alpha Upsilon), and many other friends and family members remains. “When Julia moved to The University of Alabama for college and participated in 2021 recruitment, she knew right away that the Alpha Upsilon chapter felt like ‘home.’ I believe she associated Alpha Chi Omega with many positive attributes she had witnessed in both of her aunts’ adulthoods,” Lainey recalls.

Julia agrees. “I knew I was looking for a sisterhood that would be a source of love and encouragement in my college years and beyond,” she says. “I knew that the women of Alpha Chi Omega would be lifelong friends and sisters who would push me to be the best version of myself academically, professionally and personally. Additionally, I grew up hearing stories from both of my aunts about their experience at UNC and how that sisterhood carried into their adult lives.”

Lainey, Phillip and Lesley were all thrilled to learn that Julia had joined Alpha Chi. “When Julia’s dad and I attended Bid Day festivities, we also felt like she was perfectly connected with her home away from home. When we saw the letterhead of our first piece of mail – Real. Strong. Women. – we were confident that Julia would thrive as an Alpha Chi Omega member. We have appreciated the chapter’s impact on all facets of Julia’s college experience so far [including] academics, friendships, spiritual development, philanthropic opportunities and emotional growth.”

Lainey, Julia and Phillip at Alpha Upsilon Parents Weekend

It was clear from the start that Alpha Chi Omega was the right sisterhood for Julia. And Lainey soon discovered it was not too late for it to be her sisterhood, too. “I learned from Julia about the opportunity to be an alumna initiate of the Alpha Upsilon chapter. My heart told me that this would be a second chance to become affiliated with Alpha Chi Omega’s prestigious ideals,” she says.

Then in August 2022, shortly after Julia shared the news about the National Alumna Initiate Program (NAIP) with her mom, the family suffered another tragic loss. Julia shares, “At the beginning of sophomore year, I lost my dad unexpectedly in an automobile accident in the middle of primary recruitment. From the moment I received word that he had passed away, I was wrapped in love and support from my sisters and chapter advisors. Our chapter president at the time, Brooke, along with my chapter advisor, Whitney, packed a bag for me and drove me home in the middle of the night to be with my family.”

Lainey remembers well the way Julia’s sisters supported them both after losing Phillip. “Members of Alpha Upsilon upheld Julia with prayers, their presence and a large box filled with handwritten letters that was delivered to our home. My heart was comforted by the evidence that Julia is so loved and cared for by her sisters, and I know this love will endure.”

After experiencing such loyalty from Julia’s Alpha Chi sisters, Lainey had plenty of reasons to trust that her experience as a NAIP candidate would be just as safe and supportive. After being sponsored for Alpha Chi Omega membership by her daughter and sister Lesley, Lainey joined a group of 35 Alpha Upsilon family members and friends who were preparing to initiate over Parents Weekend at Alpha Upsilon in February 2023. NAIP volunteers hosted virtual gatherings for the group of women to connect and learn together as they worked their way through The Heights Learning Center online modules for their Alpha Chi Omega education (some of the first alumnae initiates to do so!).

Lainey remembers this time fondly. “The ladies who led our alumna initiate program Zoom meetings were so welcoming to us, and we had the opportunity to share with each other as we logged in from all over the United States and introduced our reasons for becoming members of the Alpha Upsilon chapter … it was clear to see how Alpha Chi Omega membership allows for lifelong involvement in philanthropy, learning and forming friendships. The modules paid tribute to the founding members of Alpha Chi Omega in such a way that we felt honored and grateful to become a part of their original vision of a sisterhood that lasts a lifetime,” she says.

When it came time for the Initiation Ceremony, Julia was thrilled to welcome her mom into Alpha Chi Omega, and Lesley was fortunate to be present to celebrate the momentous occasion as her youngest biological sister also became her and Lindsay’s sorority sister.

Lainey (center) with her sister and daughter at her initiation.

Lainey felt Phillip’s presence that day as well, just one year after the two of them had celebrated Parents Weekend at Alpha Upsilon during Julia’s first year in the chapter. “Before the ceremony I anticipated the day as an event that Phillip had known was going to happen, and it was an event he was present for in spirit. A few days before the accident, he sent Julia a text message that read, ‘I cannot wait for you and Mom to be sisters,’ and his excitement over this opportunity for me was in the forefront of my mind all day,” she recalls.

Julia and Lelsey pinned Lainey’s badge over her heart together and welcomed her as a sister in the Bond. For Lainey, it was the culmination of not only her NAIP experience, but also the continuation of decades of love and support that she always knew were waiting for her in Alpha Chi Omega. “I felt like a circle of women within our family was now complete,” she says.

Julia knew her mom was always meant to be an Alpha Chi. “Growing up, my mom instilled a lot of the same values in me that Alpha Chi Omega holds,” says Julia. “She modeled for me what it looked like to selflessly serve those around her … She models both compassion and intentionality in her relationships with others and leads with grace. She has shown strength and resiliency through tragedy and hardship. She is the epitome of a real, strong woman, and I am so proud to call her mom and sister.”

Now that Lainey is officially an Alpha Chi Omega, she is leaning into hope and healing and holding on to both the new and old connections she’s made through Alpha Chi; she knows now more than ever that no matter what, Alpha Chi is always there for you.

“I believe that the learning and adapting we undergo in times of tragedy and loss will become someone else’s life raft,” Lainey says. “Perhaps I will be able to support other Alpha Chi Omega sisters when their lives change in an instant, and the symphony of our sisterhood is more important than ever before.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER, FRIEND OR WOMAN IN YOUR COMMUNITY WHO YOU THINK WOULD MAKE A GREAT ALPHA CHI OMEGA? SCAN THE QR CODE TO SPONSOR HER FOR MEMBERSHIP OR VISIT THE “HOW TO JOIN” PAGE UNDER MEMBER EXPERIENCE ON ALPHACHIOMEGA.ORG!