Kermit the Frog will be the University of Maryland’s 2025 commencement speaker, according to a university news release on Wednesday.
University alum and renowned puppeteer Jim Henson founded The Muppets, a fictional musical ensemble that includes Kermit, in 1955. Henson performed Kermit from 1955 until he died in 1990.
Kermit appeared on The Muppets Show and Sesame Street and was later in Muppet movies and several television series.
“Nothing could make these feet happier than to speak at [this university],” Kermit said in the release. “I just know the class of 2025 is going to leap into the world and make it a better place.”
Henson graduated from this university in 1960 with a home economics degree, according to Wednesday’s news release. Henson also attended Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, his website said.
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The Mississippi native began his television career during high school in 1954, performing puppets on Washington, D.C., television program WTOP-TV, according to The Jim Henson Company website. He also created characters in Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, including Cookie Monster and Big Bird, according to his company’s website.
Henson won multiple Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Animated Program for his Muppet Babies television series.
“I am thrilled that our graduates and their families will experience the optimism and insight of the
world-renowned Kermit the Frog at such a meaningful time in their lives,” university president Darryll Pines said in Wednesday’s news release. “Our pride in Jim Henson knows no bounds, and it is an honor to welcome Kermit the Frog to our campus.”
American puppeteer Matt Vogel has most recently performed as Kermit since 2017.
The 2025 commencement ceremony on May 21 at 6 p.m. in SECU Stadium will celebrate summer 2024, winter 2024 and spring 2025 graduates, the news release said.
