CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider '66 will be the keynote speaker at Brandeis' 57th commencement ceremony May 18, Vice President of Communication Lorna Miles said.

On that day, he will also receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University. During commencement, five other individuals will receive honorary degrees, including at least one other Brandeis alumnus, Miles said.

Schneider joined CNN in 1991, according to the network's Web site. He appears on television nightly commenting on politics, such as the 2008 race for the presidency.

"Given that it's an election year, I think having Bill Schneider there is going to be fitting," said Sam Vaghar '08, the Student Union's senior representative to the Board of Trustees and a member of the committee that reviewed potential honorary degree recipients.

Miles said the University is "pretty solid" about who the other degree recipients will be, but didn't confirm any names yet.

University President Jehuda Reinharz prefers to announce the honorary degree recipients late in order to respond to unforeseen circumstances, Miles said.

Miles was referring to last year, when Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam was elected to be the commencement speaker.

Halberstam was killed in a car crash a few weeks before the ceremony, and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman '75 stepped in at the last minute.

In the spring of 2002, Schneider was the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Visiting Professor for a semester at Brandeis, teaching a class on America's electorate titled "The American Voter." He is also the recipient of an Alumni Achievement Award.

In addition to his work at CNN, Schneider has written extensively on politics and public opinion for The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post and other publications.

Members of the committee write letters to nominate potential honorary degree recipients and form a pool of candidates, Miles said. After a committee reviews each letter and votes on the candidates, inquiries are made to choose the commencement speaker and other honorary degree recipients. The commencement speaker always receives an honorary degree.

"We try to look for people who made contributions to the arts or sciences … that reflect the structure of our school," Miles said.

"They pull people from a lot of different disciplines, and it kind of represents the diversity and the uniqueness of Brandeis," Vaghar said.

Vaghar said that by serving on the selection committee as a student, "you are able to share what you believe students might be interested in. If a name comes up, [the committee] might ask, 'Are students familiar with this person?' 'Do you think this is a good fit?' or 'Do you think this is somebody students will gravitate towards and respond to? Our voice is heard.'"

Still, Vaghar said he is looking to create a group on Facebook that will open up discussion on the honorary degree recipients so that "in future years, we can be heard from more by consensus and get as many students involved in the process as possible."

Jacob Kamaras contributed reporting.

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