Student Outraged Over ‘Cowardly’ And ‘Inoffensive’ Commencement Speaker Kermit The Frog
Some University of Maryland (UMD) students are expressing outrage that commencement speaker Kermit the Frog will not give a politically charged speech at graduation on Thursday. Kermit was announced as the speaker in…
Some University of Maryland (UMD) students are expressing outrage that commencement speaker Kermit the Frog will not give a politically charged speech at graduation on Thursday.
Kermit was announced as the speaker in March as a nod to Muppets creator Jim Henson, who graduated from UMD in 1960 with a degree in Home Economics. One student complained that the puppet was a “cowardly” choice by the university and that Kermit’s speech would be “inoffensive, uplifting and milquetoast by design” despite a tumultuous time for universities and PBS under the Trump administration, according to an opinion column published by the UMD student newspaper The Diamondback.
“The truth is that Kermit is a fun but safe choice for a speaker in a time that demands anything but,” Rohin Mishra, a 2025 graduate, wrote. “A fictional character won’t go off-script, nor will they have to deal with any real-world issues.”
Mishra and The Diamondback did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The student complained that Kermit probably “won’t even touch” issues of the Trump administration, such as the revocation of student visas, universities having their funding revoked for noncompliance with civil rights laws and a freeze on federal employment.