Sheinelle Jones Says Daughter Clara, 13, Must Join Her College Sorority

Sheinelle Jones isn’t accepting the possibility of her daughter joining a different sorority than she did.

During the Friday, Sept. 26 broadcast of Today with Jenna & Friends, the Today co-host, 47, had a hilarious reaction to the idea that her daughter Clara, 13, could join a different sorority than she did. Jones, who’s a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, told co-host Jenna Bush Hager, 43, that her daughter doesn’t have the option to pick a different sorority.

“My mom was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Our colors are pink and green, and she had the sweater that she wore when she pledged in the sorority,” she said. “And so when I pledged in ’97, I wore the sweater. It was really cool, … and Clara knows that she will wear it. There’s just no question.”

When Bush Hager asked Jones what what happens if her daughter decides she doesn’t to be in that sorority or if she wants to join a different one, the mom of three’s face instantly revealed her response.

“Are you giving Clara looks like that?” Bush Hager joked. Jones didn’t miss a beat and responded, “Yes.”

Jones went on to say that her daughter can pick whatever college she wants to go to, but there was no choice when it comes to which sorority she wanted to join.

The doting mom went on to tell a quick story about her experience with her mom in college when she joked about joining a rival sorority in one of the nine historically Black Greek-letter organizations, commonly referred to as the Divine Nine.

“So, my freshman year at Northwestern, I called my mom for April Fools’ Day and I said, ‘Mom, I need to tell you something. I’m pregnant,’ ” she said. “My mom said, ‘You know what I love you. We’re gonna figure it out. It’s okay.'”

“Sophomore year, I called her on April Fools’ Day. I said, ‘Mom, I pledged …’ ” she began, trailing off when Bush Hager asked her not to mention the other organization on television. “I won’t, but ya’ll know which one it is. She hung up on me, and then I kept calling and calling. She would not answer my call.”

She concluded, “When she finally answered my call, I said, ‘Mom, so I can be pregnant in college and it’s okay, but I pledge a rival sorority and you won’t answer my call.'”

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Jones welcomed three kids with her late husband, Uche Ojeh, who died in May 2025 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma at 45 years old. The couple wed in 2007 and welcomed their first son, Kayin, 16, two years later in August 2009. Twins Clara and Uche, 13, joined the family in July 2012.

On Friday, Sept. 5, the journalist returned to Today for the first time since her husband’s death and touched on how the loss has affected her three kids. Jones shared that her husband’s hands-on approach to parenting makes his absence felt all the more to their children.

“The beautiful days are harder than the rainy days because the beautiful days he would have taken them out,” she shared. “They would have gone to kick a ball. Our first vacation after he passed, it was hard. I thought it would be this respite, we’d go to the beach, and we’d go back to our happy place, but for our boys, it was a nightmare. I’m not surfing. I’m not doing any of that stuff. I’m not kicking a soccer ball on the beach. It’s been tough.”

Being a mom amidst her own grief has been a challenge for Jones, who said, “That’s what makes this harder. There are times where, if I can just stay in bed, keep the door closed, not answer my phone and just sit, it would be amazing. But I can’t do that. Because I have three little beings who are watching me.”

She added that while she and her kids are “a unit” of four now, “there’s this huge hole in our lives, in our hearts.”