Hoda Kotb Reunites with 70 of Her Tri Delta Sorority Sisters as She Kicks off Last Week onToday: 'This Is Crazy!'

Mar. 15, 2025

Hoda Kotb’s last week attheTodayshowbegan on Monday, Jan. 6 with a bang!

The NBC morning news show is honoring Kotb over the next five days with what they’ve dubbed a “Hoda-bration,” promising “fun, laughs, and surprises” along the way. And they stayed true to that word in the 8:30 a.m. hour, when they reunited Kotb with 70 of her former Tri Delta sorority sisters from Virginia Tech.

Hoda Kotb as she’s reunited with her former sorority sisters on the ‘Today’ show.NBC

NBC

Kotb, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 1986 with a degree in broadcast journalism, was dressed for the occasion. “I have to confess something,” she told them. “I knew that you guys were here, I heard that you were here, so I under my blazer I made sure I was wearing my Virginia Tech shirt!”

But while she may have known the band would be there, Kotb had no idea what was coming next.

Savannah Guthrieteed up the bombshell coming Kotb’s way.

“We know you have a lot of school spirit, but there’s just some people where, I think we can kick it up a notch,” Guthrie said, while standing alongsideToday’sCarson Daly,Craig MelvinandAl Roker. “See, you thought that you knew what we were doing today. Well, let’s welcome out your Tri Delta sorority sisters!”

A parade of Virginia Tech alums followed suit, many carrying signs of support and all wearing maroon knit hats embroidered with the Tri Delta logo on them.

“Oh my God!” a shocked Kotb exclaimed, as her sorority sisters embraced her. She continued to repeat the phrase over and over again, as she recognized more and more faces.

“They called us a two weeks ago and they said, ‘Can you get a few Tri Deltas?’ And during the holidays, everybody rallied to do this,” two of her sorority sisters explained. “Came from all over the country, because we love you.”

Now decked in a matching knit hat, Kotb hugged her former classmates, including a woman named Ann who Kotb said was her little sister in the sorority.

“You guys, I can’t believe you did this,” Kotb said. “I love you guys. I was the pledge trainer for the sorority. It meant the absolute world to me. I can’t believe you guys came. I’m shocked. I can’t believe it y’all. This is crazy!”

“That was the best,” Kotb added. “That was the awesomest! Thank you, guys.”

“We love you Hody,” they all said in unison.

Kotb, who recently moved to the suburbs, then pitched a big get-together after Daly asked, “Are you guys all sleeping at Hoda’s tonight?”

“Everybody’s invited!” Kotb said. “We gotta go out today, we have to!”

“It’s a kegger at Hoda’s!” joked Roker.

Kotb announced in September thatshe planned to depart her roleatTodayafter nearly two decades, citing a desire to spend more time with daughtersHope Catherine, 5, andHaley Joy, 7.

“There’s the guilt you carry because you can’t be 100% at work and 100% at home," she toldPEOPLE in an October cover story. “Something has to give if you want excellence. If you’re going to be excellent at work, something has to give at home. And if you want to be excellent at home, I meanexcellent, and do all the things, something has to give at work. It can’t be equal.”

Another factor in her decision was the personal reflection that came with celebrating hermilestone 60th birthdayin August.

“I’ve kind of been contemplating, wondering, thinking about what I wanted this next chunk of my life to look like as I turned 60,” she said. “And I like adventure,I like new beginnings. I’m a sunrise person and not a sunset person, and I was wondering, what does it look like for me?”

Craig Melvin and Hoda Kotb.Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kotb’s final episode ofTodayandToday with Hoda and Jennawill air on Friday, Jan. 10. Melvin willstep in as her replacementonTodaybeginning on Monday, Jan. 13.

TheTodayshow airs weekdays on NBC (beginning at 7 a.m. ET).

source: people.com