This year, the most famous frog in the world, Kermit, is set to deliver the commencement speech to the 2025 class of the same school where Muppets creator graduated in 1960!
That man, the late Jim Henson, who passed in 1990, was said to have created the character of Kermit while he was a student at Maryland living on the College Park campus.
Kermit is no public speaking rookie
This won’t be Kermit’s first commencement speech; he did deliver the closing remarks at the graduation ceremony of the former Southampton College of Long Island University in 1996, and while that was a few decades ago, we’re confident Kermit’s going to nail it!
Who is going to operate and voice Kermit?
While we’d love to say Kermit is a frog with a mind of his own, the truth is he has been operated and voiced by the same puppeteer since 2017, a man by the name of Matt Vogel.
Why is Kermit giving a commencement speech?
First, why not?
Second, this is a very calculated decision by the university.
Not only does this decision mitigate the potential blowback from a speaker who will inject personal politics into the speech, but it will likely offer a delightful sense of nostalgia while also delivering much-needed hopefulness for the future.
When is the Maryland commencement speech?
The speech will be on May 21st, 2025, at University of Maryland’s SECU Stadium located in College Park.