The annual "commencement package" is a time-honored tradition here at NBC Nightly News, and tonight we present it to you with an unprecedented amount of material on-air and online. For producer Victor Limjoco, editor Bev Chase and associate producer Shea Connelly, it truly was a monumental and rewarding project.
Our NBC Nightly News team went through 260 tapes this year to stitch this story together. Some of the strongest, most emotional material came from our sit-down interviews with students at The George Washington University, University of Alabama, Fordham University, University of Southern California and University of Arizona. We hope you enjoy this interactive feature where you can hear more from the Class of 2011. To create the musical backbone of the piece, we worked with several amazing artists. Special thanks to music researcher Lisa Granshaw and our friend Chris Davis. Here's the playlist for the songs you heard tonight. Please support them:
"Water from the Same Source" by Rachel's
"Brand New Day" by Joshua Radin"Rattle These Bones" by Hoots & Hellmouth "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros"My Terrible Friend" by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
And if you’re inspired by the commencement speakers this year, you can hear their entire speeches here. We've got speeches from Tom Hanks, Amy Poehler, President Obama, Rep. John Boehner, and many more.
Congrats to the class of 2011!