“Way to screw up my Commencement and get shitty speakers,” Jason L. Lurie ’05 said. “They’re qualified as speakers, but for the purpose of Class Day, Tim Russert is unacceptable, for the purpose of Commencement, John Lithgow is unacceptable.”

But others gave a warmer reception to the news.

“I love Tim Russert. He’s one of my favorite top TV personalities,” Paolo S. Yap ’07 said. “I think he’s mastered how to talk on TV. I don’t think he needs to be slapsticky or humorous. He’s a dynamic speaker.”

Russert is the managing editor and moderator of Meet the Press, a leading Sunday morning political show. A political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today Program, Russert also anchors the weekly CNBC interview program The Tim Russert Show and periodically contributes to MSNBC.

Russert joins Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite, Ted Koppel, and Jane Pauley as newsmedia celebrities who have addressed Harvard graduates on Class Day.

Class Day will take place the day before Commencement, June 8, and is open to seniors and their guests.

Actor John A. Lithgow ’67 will be this year’s Commencement Day speaker.

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.