When Washington University announced last year that NBC newsman Tim Russert would be the commencement speaker, the school’s paper bemoaned the pick as hackneyed and mundane.

The choice, Student Life editors wrote in 2007, represents “another selection in a disappointing trend” of “uninspiring pundits” addressing graduates.

So who has the school chosen to speak to the class of 2008? None other than Russert’s network colleague, “Hardball” host Chris Matthews.

“Chris Matthews continues to be an important figure in the national news media with respect to the American political process,” Wash U. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said in a news release. “He is familiar with both Washington University and the pressing challenges that face our society today - challenges that our new graduates will be working to overcome and address.”

Matthews hosted the presidential debate at Wash U. in 2004, and was the keynote speaker at the school’s “Founders Day” celebration the same year.

Predictably, the move to bring him back to the university for the May 16 graduation ceremony was not well-received on the pages of the Student Life.

Wrote senior Daniel Milstein: “At least Tim Russert was the best in his field.”

Matthews: Returning to Wash U.