Live from Ohio State - it's Brian Williams.
The NBC news anchor, past host of Saturday Night Live and one of Time's 2006 most influential people, will be OSU's spring commencement speaker.
"It's nice to have someone more impartial but he's got a sense of humor," said Matt Proctor, a senior in theatre. "I think he's a good choice, he's got poise and he's likable."
"That's kind of exciting, it's different from the normal politician or company CEO. ... It would've been cool if it had been (Barack) Obama but obviously that's not going to happen," said Kristin Rude, a senior in English.
Each year, the ceremony's speaker is chosen by the Commencement Speaker Committee, said Amy Murray, assistant director of media relations at OSU.
Past spring commencement speakers have included Bill Cosby, President George W. Bush, Christopher Reeve, John McCain and Bill Clinton.
"The committee tries to work from a potential list to find a high profile speaker at the time we need," Murray said. "We also have to find out if we can send out a possible invitation to those people, if their schedule will allow it."
Williams is the managing editor and anchor of NBC Nightly News and has won several journalism awards, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.
Willliams has traveled all over the world covering politics, wars and catastrophes. Most of Williams' awards came from his coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
Williams is not the first news anchor to speak at spring commencement. OSU alum and CBS news correspondent Erin Moriarty spoke at the 2004 spring commencement.
About 7,500 undergraduate, graduate and professional students will receive their degrees at the Sunday June 8, 2008 ceremony held at Ohio Stadium.
Pick up Tuesday's edition of The Lantern for a list of past commencement speakers.
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