Sharing His Story
NBC’s Sunday TODAY host Willie Geist sits down to talk about the lifelong value of fraternity
By Zach Hilliard, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement
Photos courtesy of NBC/TODAY.
Willie Geist, Vanderbilt ’97, is the host of NBC News’ Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist, which turns ten in April. He is also a co-host of MS NOW’s Morning Joe, and a regular host and contributor to TODAY. Geist also contributes to the NBC Sports Group, where he has hosted coverage of several Olympic Games. Geist is the author of three books, including the New York Times bestsellers Good Talk, Dad, and American Freak Show. He lives in New York with his wife and their two children.
Tell us your Phi Delt story. How did you find your way to Phi Delta Theta?
My grandfather was a Phi Delt at the University of Illinois. My dad also went to Illinois and was a Fiji. But because my grandfather, George H. Lewis, Illinois ’49, my mom’s dad, was a Phi Delt, growing up, I heard some Phi Delt lore—especially about him and the buddies who became lifelong friends. So when I got to Vanderbilt, Phi Delt had a leg up. Ironically, Tennessee Alpha was off campus when I got there. During rush, I met some great guys in other fraternities, but I really clicked with the Phi Delt guys. I became friends with a group of freshmen in my dorm who hung out with the Phis because they had connections to them; some of them knew them from high school. So, hanging out with these twelve guys and the Phis, we grew really close, and we knew we wanted to wait a year before pledging Phi Delt. Freshman year, we hung out together, and when the chapter was back on campus sophomore year, we went from best friends to brothers.
When I was at Vanderbilt, Tennessee Alpha was a very Southern fraternity. I was from New Jersey and became the token Yankee in my group of friends. Meeting these guys expanded my world. Growing up, you pick up certain stereotypes from TV, movies, or music, but hanging out with these guys, I quickly realized that my friends and I have very similar lives and a lot more in common than I might have thought. I really came to appreciate Southern culture, from its music to gaining an appreciation for bourbon and visiting different places. During breaks, I would spend time with my friends and their families in places like Pee Wee Valley, Kentucky; Albany, Georgia; and Cleveland, Tennessee. Visiting the horse farm one of my buddies grew up on in Kentucky and learning how to quail hunt in South Georgia really broadened my horizons.
Willie Geist (top row, center) and his pledge class at the beach.
Many young men join fraternities for the social component, and it’s not until after college that they understand some of the other benefits. Looking back, how did Phi Delta Theta shape your college experience beyond just social life?
As I said, moving from New Jersey to Nashville was a big change for me, both culturally and in finding new friends. Once my buddies and I were officially Phis, other aspects of fraternity began to influence my day-to-day. I have a strong memory of visiting home during Christmas break of my sophomore year, and I was in the kitchen with my mom. I was helping to wash and put away the dishes. She noticed and said with a playful, “Wow, that’s going on there?” In that moment, I realized that living in a house with a bunch of guys, you can’t be a freeloader; you aren’t a kid anymore. You learn to contribute to the whole and begin to build discipline and maturity that will serve you well past school.
And then, of course, the lessons gained from chapter philanthropy projects. Even though my mom was a social worker and had built that mindset into me from an early age, getting up early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, regardless of how late you might have been up the night before, going out in the community to clean up a park, painting a school, or reading to kids, helped build new habits on serving others.
You once told Vanderbilt Magazine that one of your favorite places to hang out was the Phi Delt house. Are there any memories or stories that still make you laugh?
I mean, there are a lot of them. I think back to when we were in school on football weekends. There was one time when we road-tripped to Tuscaloosa to watch Vanderbilt play Alabama. Back then, Vanderbilt didn’t have much of a shot at beating Alabama, not like we do now. Playing at Alabama, we were sitting, I think, in the top row, and our punter, Bill Marinangel, ran a fake punt back eighty-one yards for a touchdown, which up to that point was the greatest play in Vanderbilt football. I just remember us running up and down the bleachers like idiots.
After college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and my buddies were all moving to Atlanta for work, so I decided to follow them there. We still had friends in Nashville, and so we would drive three and a half hours to spend weekends hanging out together. We would go to Vanderbilt football games, and, you know, the couple of times that Vanderbilt made bowl games, it was so exceptional.
Since moving to New York, I make it back to Nashville whenever I can, and my buddies and I get together. The memories we made in school and since then, watching and supporting each other as our lives have changed, have only strengthened our bond. The twelve guys in my pledge class and I have a text chain, and we chat every single day. We also get together for a football game every fall and try to do one other thing every year. To me, the memories are not just the hilarious, fun things we did at school, but also that here we are, some thirty years later, and we still feel that way about each other, still get together all the time, and still text. It’s the endurance of the relationships that is most impressive.
Top: Willie and his dad (left). Tennessee Alpha composite photo (middle). Willie and Christina Geist, Vanderbilt ’97 graduation (right).
Bottom: Willie and his dad (left). Willie with his father, Bill Geist, on the set of CBS Sunday Morning (right).
You’re deeply connected to philanthropy, from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to mentoring and returning to Vanderbilt. With a schedule as demanding as yours, how do you decide where to invest your time and energy outside of work?
When you have a family and a demanding job, you have to be selective in picking causes that have the most meaning to you. So, for me, I picked two organizations tied to my father. My dad has Parkinson’s disease; he’s had it for nearly thirty-five years, I think. He was diagnosed when he was young and is eighty years old now. The idea that a cure for Parkinson’s could be found in my lifetime is very personal to me. Especially when I think about my son, someone I love, or even myself, a new generation that doesn’t have to think about Parkinson’s disease. That is why it was an easy choice to join the board of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Running the fiftieth annual New York City Marathon in 2021 and raising over half a million dollars for the foundation in honor of my father was such an amazing experience. The best part is that there was no corporate donor; the amount raised came from small donations, such as $5, $10, and $20, from people who wanted to honor a loved one with Parkinson’s.
Another organization I am proud to invest my time in is Operation Mend at the UCLA Medical Center. Because my dad was in the military (he fought in Vietnam), veterans’ issues have always been very important to me. My wife, Christina, and I both serve on the board of advisors. This partnership between the UCLA Medical Center and the US military was established to provide advanced surgical and medical treatment, comprehensive psychological evaluation and support, and Intensive Treatment Programs for symptoms related to Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury for post-9/11 service members, veterans, and their caregivers.
Willie on set of Sunday Today.
When you were inducted into the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame, you encouraged students to “get smart” and “think critically about the world” through a broad liberal arts education. Does that advice still hold in today’s media landscape? Has anything changed for young journalists?
This was advice I received while interning at CBS News during the summer before my senior year at Vanderbilt. One of the very senior producers asked me what I was going to do next, and I replied that I was thinking about going to journalism school. When the producer heard this, she replied, “Journalism school is great. Do it if you want to, but I will tell you, I can teach you here in two weeks what you’re going to learn in two years at journalism school.” In other words, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going on to more schooling; that is fine, but what she suggested was taking classes in what you were interested in, such as politics, if that interests you. Which I did a lot of; I was a poli sci major at Vanderbilt. She went on to say that once a student got a job, someone like her could quickly bring them up to speed on ethics, interviewing, and everything they would need to know to be a good journalist. So while I don’t know if that applies to everyone, I took that to heart. I recommend studying history, learning to write, think critically, and fact-check. If you have a solid educational foundation, when you get to your first job in journalism, people like me can teach you the ins and outs of the job.
You appeared in the Curb Your Enthusiasm series finale, playing a version of yourself. How far outside your comfort zone was that? What did that experience teach you about saying yes to opportunities that feel intimidating?
That was very far outside my comfort zone and a little scary. I mean, I’ve gotten to a point in my profession where, after twenty years, I don’t get scared by much. You know, if I get to interview a president, a celebrity, or anyone, I tell myself, just be prepared, and you’ll be fine.
But in the case of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David personally called me. My phone rang, and it was Larry David. I had asked him to be on my Sunday show. He called to say he wasn’t going to do it, but instead had an idea for me to be on his show. So I thought, all right, that sounds a little scary, but I’ll give it a try. I assumed it would be just that part where you’re a reporter with a mic, trying to move the story along. But I said, “Sure, I’ll do it,” and then they sent me the sketch. They don’t really have a script, as people know; it’s more of an outline of where the storyline needs to go. I realized I was in the entire episode; I was a character.
And that’s when I really panicked because he’s Larry David, and then there’s J.B. Smoove, Susie Essman, and Jeff Garlin, and they’re professional comedians. So yeah, there was a brief moment of trepidation about how I could do this. I will say that the day I got to LA, Larry was so warm, despite his curmudgeonly image. He was so kind and generous, and he laughed so hard at everything I said that once I got through the first scene, I started to relax and get a feel for improvising with Larry. I said to them, “You know, I’m not an actor, right? I’m the news host,” and his people were like, “Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen you on TV, you’ll be fine.” So once I got through the first scene, which was a little nerve-racking, I realized you film a bunch of material, and then they’ll edit together the best of it.
By day two, I felt like I was part of their little family, making jokes, because they made me feel so comfortable. I think they know that, for an outsider to drop into that world, you had better make them feel comfortable if you want to get it right. They were amazing. I’m so grateful to Larry for asking me to do that, because that really was a highlight for sure.
A year ago, you took Sunday Sitdown in front of a live audience. Your first guest was the comedian Nate Bargatze.
That was a leap because it was our first one. We had an idea of what we wanted the format to be, but we weren’t 100 percent sure what the final result would look like. Because this would be the first live show, Nate didn’t have previous episodes to draw on for preparation, but he was so generous as to agree to do it. Turns out he was the perfect guest with whom to start this new format; who better than the biggest stand-up comedian in the world right now who knows how to work a crowd, tell a story, and deliver a punchline?
Since Nate, we’ve had Ina Garten, Jim Gaffigan, and, most recently, we interviewed Luke Combs in Nashville. Luke was such a great guest. He is such a generous, funny, smart, and talented guy, who told the audience stories from his life and career. Then on his own volition, he was gracious enough to pull out the guitar and play a couple of songs for us, too. The crowd in Nashville got a little extra bonus. These live interviews have been really special.
Has the format changed how you prepare or listen?
The preparation doesn’t change that much, but when I go on stage before I bring the guest out, there’s a feeling akin to being a late-night host or something along those lines. It’s a lot of fun getting the crowd fired up, getting a reaction out of them, whether it’s funny or poignant, and then feeling it instantly. During filming on a show like Sunday TODAY, it’s just a couple of people in a room, but we know intuitively that on the other side of that camera, there are three million people or so watching. Because it’s filmed, you never feel that immediate reaction that a theater actor or a live musician hears.
So now, after ten years of the show, I get to stand on stage a couple of times a year and see our viewers and hear their reactions. I love that I get to meet a bunch of them before the show, hear how far they’ve come, and take a picture with them and the Sunday mugs they brought. One difference in the live format is that you’ll find yourself playing a little bit to that crowd; you know, you’re going to make the extra jokes, and you know they’ll laugh. There’s more playing to the audience than there would be if it were the two of us sitting in a room, obviously.
Left: Willie Geist with actors Will Ferrell (top) and Al Pachino (bottom).
Right: Sunday TODAY interview with singers Jon Bon Jovi (top) and Bad Bunny (bottom).
After all these illustrious people you’ve spoken with, what lessons or experiences stand out to you that you’ve taken from your interviews?
My biggest takeaway from interviewing successful people and celebrities is that, even though they seem like they are from a different planet, when you sit and talk to them for an extended period of time, and you get to know them a little bit before and after the interview, you realize that they’re people who have done something extraordinary, but they didn’t start that way. I think what they all have in common is that they’re talented, but they also have a will. There are plenty of talented people who wouldn’t have stuck with it when the times were hard. Think about the number of times these people have heard, “No,” or “You’re not good enough.” So while their lives are different than ours, they’re people at the end of the day.
