University of Maryland 2025 graduates on Thursday heard a commencement speech that had them all ribbeted. No wonder, as the speaker was noted environmentalist, author, movie star, and friend to all, Kermit the Frog.
Looking dapper in his tiny doctoral regalia, red and black robes and cap, he gazed out over the thousands of grads after a video introduction from Varaa Kukreti, President of the Graduate Student Government. Welcoming the rapt crowd, Kermit introduced the three ideas close to his heart he hoped to pass along: finding your people, taking the leap, and making connections.
Kermit began paying tribute to the man he and the students both had in common: Jim Henson, who attended the school.
“He had a hand in literally everything I did,” Kermit said.
When Henson was first coming up with the Muppet Show, Kermit said, “Nobody knew what they had. But Jim knew WHO he had.”
“He always saw what was unique in each person,” Kermit said. “Jim believed everyone had a place, Jim thought of that, and he made us believe it.”
Always the elegant jokester, Kermit couldn’t resist a few playful jabs at the crowd.
“There’s a spot for everyone in the show, isn’t that right, Arts and Humanities majors?” he said. “I see you! I also see you, too, Biology majors. But I’m not gonna step foot inside your lab, no way, forget it! But congratulations anyway!”
Returning to the focus of finding one’s people, Kermit assured them that while life will not always be easy, “If you’re with your people, you won’t have to do it alone.”
When it comes to taking the leap — something to which a frog can claim some expertise — Kermit relayed the story of a cousin frog who used to step on other frogs’ backs and heads to get over them when they were playing leapfrog. He advised against that method.
“Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side,” Kermit suggested. “Because life is better when we leap together.”
He spoke with the wisdom of his 70 years when underscoring the importance of connections. Kermit encapsulated the paradox of time passages when he told the graduates that their parents, grandparents, people who raised them can remember seeing them as a preschooler.
“For you, it probably seems like a lifetime ago,” he said. “But for them, it probably seems like yesterday.”
But then he went even deeper to articulate the permanence of those connections. Kermit emphasized how important the connections they share with their parents, family, or special people who helped raise them are.
“A lot of them, they’re probably here right now,” Kermit said. “And some of them, they might not be. But trust me. You’re still connected to them. You really are. And that’s the thing about love. It sticks with you even when you’re apart.”
Kermit urged them to stay connected to all their special people and friends, and to stay connected to their dreams, saying, “[D]reams are how we figure out where we wanna go. And life is how we get there.”
As a final reassurance and Gen Z encouragement, Kermit gave the crowd the ultimate emotional hug.
“So, graduates, I see you. I see you out there,” he said. “I know that you will find your people. I know that you’re gonna take big leaps…I. know that you will stay connected – to your families, your friends, and your dreams. Because life’s like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending. You’ve all done just what you set out to do. And you’re just getting started.”
What came next? A few plucks on a single banjo.
And Kermit the Frog invited the entire University of Maryland graduating class of 2025 to sing the song engraved on the heart of every Muppet lover, “The Rainbow Connection.”
For those who wish to hear these words straight from the mouth of the frog himself, Kermit’s commencement speech begins around the 2 hour, 4 minute mark.
