A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It's graduation season, the time for seniors to don their hard-earned caps and gowns and celebrate.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
That also means commencement addresses from politicians, entertainers, activists - and Kermit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KERMIT THE FROG: You're all here to listen to a frog in a very tiny cap and gown give a commencement speech.
MARTÍNEZ: Kermit the Frog spoke at the University of Maryland's Kermencement (ph) about working with people to get ahead.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KERMIT THE FROG: Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side. Because life is better when we leap together.
MARTIN: Actress Jennifer Coolidge told the graduates at Emerson College to be, well, delusional about their dreams.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JENNIFER COOLIDGE: My mother had a magazine in the living room, and it had Grace Kelly on the cover, and inside there was a full photo spread of her lavish royal wedding and a story about how she became the queen of Monaco. And it was all in this moment that I realized that I wanted to be Queen of Monaco.
MARTIN: And her advice about how to go about reaching a dream?
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COOLIDGE: When you find the thing that you want to do, I really want to highly recommend, just frigging go for it.
(APPLAUSE)
MARTÍNEZ: Now some speakers took a political tack, like actor and activist Jane Fonda. She urged the class at the USC Annenberg School of Communication to use their rights to guard against polarization, uncertainty and climate change.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JANE FONDA: Vote all the way down the ballot. That means don't forget the sheriff, the school board, public utilities, the city council.
(CHEERING)
FONDA: You would be amazed at how much power these down-ballot offices can wield when it comes to democracy and climate.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "READING RAINBOW THEME SONG")
TINA FABRIQUE: (Singing) Take a look. It's in our book. A Reading Rainbow.
MARTIN: Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton offered this counsel to students at Howard University about navigating what he sees as the promises and prejudices of the United States.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LEVAR BURTON: Only in America could a descendant of slaves, for whom simply knowing how to read just a few generations ago, a crime punishable by whipping or death, could grow up and become a celebrated champion for literacy and the written word. This, too, is America.
MARTÍNEZ: And he's encouraged the graduates to use their gifts to build a brighter future.
BURTON: Use them liberally and to your best advantage, and know in your heart of hearts that in the words of one of my very favorite wordsmiths, Kendrick Lamar...
(LAUGHTER)
BURTON: ...We gon' be alright.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALRIGHT")
KENDRICK LAMAR: (Singing) We gon' be alright, right? We gon' be alright. We gon' be alright... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.