85 - Plus Ones

It’s the holidays, which means there are lots of office parties, friendsgivings, and family get-togethers! When we think about some of our Sisters and who their “plus ones” might be, we realize a lot of our Sisters could quickly turn one of these holiday get-togethers into a star-studded event!

Check out some of the “plus ones” that might show up to a Chi Omega holiday party!

Willie Geist

Christina and Willie Geist, photo courtesy of thetodayshow.com

Christina Geist, wife to NBC and MSNBC host Willie Geist, is a brand strategist, entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling children’s book author who lives in New York City. Christina is a Sigma Epsilon initiate at Vanderbilt University and recently spoke at the NPC Educational Conference in 2019 about what it means to be a sorority woman, entrepreneur, and author. Christina’s inspiration for her successful business venture, Boombox Gifts, was inspired and greatly supportedly by her Chi Omega Sisters.

Richard Gere

Doris Tiffany Gere, Richard Gere’s mother, was an initiate of Beta Alpha at the University of Pennsylvania. She went on to be a homemaker, raising Richard and his other four siblings. She was known as an avid seamstress and loved quilting, especially when she could make the quilts for her family and friends. She joined the Omega Chapter in 2016.

Chris Evert

Tennis great, Chris Evert’s whole family was immersed in the game of tennis. When her youngest sister Clare Evert earned a tennis scholarship to SMU, she’d been playing alongside her four older sisters and brothers for years. It was here that Clare found a place of her own in Chi Omega. She was initiated into the Iota Alpha chapter at SMU in 1986.

Brett Favre

Breleigh Favre, Brett Favre’s youngest daughter, is a current collegiate member at Epsilon Delta/Southern Mississippi who joined this fall.

Scotty Bowman

Alicia Bowman DiGiulio, daughter of NHL coach Scotty Bowman, was initiated into Epsilon chapter at SUNY – Buffalo in 1991 and went on to serve as G.H., Epsilon House Corporation Vice President, and Xi Gamma Advisor.

Gloria Steinem

Ruth Steinum, Xi Delta/Toledo left, and Gloria Steinum, photo courtesy of seattletimes.com

Gloria Steinem’s mother was an initiate of Xi Delta at Toledo in October of 1947, just a few years after Xi Delta was chartered in 1944. Ruth Steinem, whose maiden name was Nuneviller, is thought to have been a member of a local sorority Kappa Pi Epsilon while attending Toledo. Kappa Pi Epsilon’s members were offered membership into Chi Omega once the local group was absorbed in the mid-1940s. Kappa Pi Epsilon was the oldest sorority on Toledo’s campus, founded on October 11, 1912, as the Girls Athletic Society.

Barry Switzer

Katherine Switzer Miller, daughter of longtime Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, was initiated into Epsilon Alpha at Oklahoma in 1989.

Luke Kuechly

Eileen Burke Kuechly, mother of current NFL star and Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, is a 1979 initiate of Pi Alpha/Cincinnati. When Eileen once asked her son to help with a fundraiser for a local high school football field, he jumped at the opportunity and said, “It’s something easy to do to help them get that field,” Kuechly said. “It makes my mom happy so it makes me happy. If you make her happy you are all good.”

Lady Gaga

Lada Gaga’s mother, Cynthia Germanotta, was initiated into Theta chapter at West Virginia, but for unknown reasons did not graduate as a Chi Omega.

Robert De Niro

Virginia Admiral De Niro piece featured now at Museum of Modern Art, photo courtesy of moma.org

Virginia Admiral De Niro, Robert De Niro’s mother, was a 1932 initiate of Omicron Alpha Chapter at Coe College. She was a poet, but best known for her art. She studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and under Hans Hofmann in New York. Her work was included in the Peggy Guggenheim collection and remains in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She entered the Omega Chapter in 2000.

Justin Leonard

PGA golfer and 1997 winner of the British Open, Justin Leonard’s mother Kay Leonard, Iota Alpha/SMU, and his sister Nancy Leonard Koch, Iota/Texas, are both Chi Omegas.

Dave Dombrowski

Karie Ross, wife to baseball executive, formerly of the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, Dave Dombrowski, is a former ESPN reporter and an initiate of Epsilon Alpha chapter at Oklahoma. When Karie was hired at ESPN she was one of the first anchors to be hired by the company!

Chip Caray

Baseball broadcaster Chip Caray, grandson of Cubs legend Harry Caray, is married to Susan Eyerly Caray, a Psi Kappa initiate at Clemson.

Do you know any famous “plus ones” that might show up to your holiday gatherings this year?