Oh, you lucky Terps.
Exciting news out of the University of Maryland the other day, as they announced their commencement speaker for the ceremonies for the Spring Class of 2025. Here’s the video–and they’re gonna make you wait until the end, of course, for the big reveal:
Yup, it’s Kermit the Frog, who, I suppose, could technically be said to be an alum of UMD, since he’s the creation of a graduate of the Class of 1960, Jim Henson. (Kermit’s attendance at the University of Maryland is not yet canon, you nerds.)
(I can’t help wondering, too, who’s gonna write the speech for Kermit to deliver. Commencement speeches are famously tough to get right, and my hat is off to whoever’s been assigned the task of writing this one. Heck, maybe they’ve been lucky enough to co-opt Muppet/Henson fan Brad Meltzer, who knows a thing or two about how to do these things.)
Believe it or not, in his lifetime, Jim Henson never delivered a commencement speech–not at the University of Maryland, not anywhere. He did receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from his alma mater in 1978, and carefully instructed the university that he wanted his name to be printed as “Jim” and not “James,” which was on his 1960 diploma.
Here’s the page from the commencement program that year that featured Jim’s bio . . .
. . . and finally, here’s a fantastic picture of Jim Henson himself, all decked out in his mortarboard and robe to receive his honorary degree. Jim had been working in London on The Muppet Show almost right up to the last minute, and his assistant sent a telex to the Henson company’s New York offices with Jim’s hat size, so they could inform UMD. “Jim’s head measures 22 ½”, said the telex, “which our wardrobe says is about size 6 7/8.” They seem to have gotten everything right, because he looks terrific.
Brian Jay Jones 