Brokaw to speak at graduation

and Jaclyn LaPlaca Tom Brokaw, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, has been selected to speak at graduation, according to University President Judith Rodin. Rodin said Brokaw was chosen because of his well-rounded interests and excellence in his field. "We are delighted that he is coming," she said. "He is the perfect speaker for an election year." She explained that the selection committee consciously chose to avoid choosing speakers with political tendencies during this election year. "We had other speakers in mind, but he was the most exciting prospect," said Rodin. "We were recently in contact with him, and he asked for advice on a speech topic. He is going to be a perfect speaker." Rodin added that one of the reasons Brokaw was selected was for his "numerous firsts." For example, Brokaw conducted the first exclusive one-on-one interview with former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, an interview which won the Alfred I. DuPont Award. He was also the only anchor present when the Berlin Wall fell, was the first anchor to report on human rights abuses in Tibet, and conducted an exclusive interview with the Dalai Lama. The sole anchor of Nightly News since 1983, Brokaw previously served as the anchor of the NBC News' Today show from 1976-1981. Brokaw has anchored Nightly News from the White House lawn, where he reported on the signing of the historic Middle East peace agreement, on rooftops in Beirut, the Great Wall of China, the streets of Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, Soweto in South Africa and from Somalia when American troops landed on the shore. In addition, Brokaw has covered every presidential election since 1968. In December 1987, he moderated a live televised debate from Washington, D.C., with all declared candidates for the presidential nomination from both parties. He also moderated the first debate among the declared Democratic candidates for president in December 1991. "I think that a majority of the Penn population will be very pleased with such a well-known and eloquent speaker," said Senior Class President Lenny Chang, a Wharton senior. And Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson and College senior Lance Rogers also commented that Brokaw will be an "excellent speaker." "I think that President Rodin has made a great choice," Rogers said. "Tom Brokaw is someone who can offer us an excellent speech that is well thought out and intelligent." College senior and Senior Class Board member-at-large Jon Slotkin said he agreed. "The good news is that Judy Rodin did not call in a favor to the Clinton administration," he said. "He is a pop media figure who will be interesting." Brokaw graduated from the University of South Dakota and began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV-TV, Omaha. Brokaw joined NBC News in 1966 as a reporter based in California, after anchoring the late-evening news on WSB-TV in Atlanta.