"I have enough of that still lurking in me that the idea of being able to say something that might plant itself in one brain of one graduate is tempting," he said.
A child actor who first appeared on the small screen in the 1950s, Shearer gained something of a cult following for his role in the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, a mock documentary about England's loudest rock group.
He appeared regularly as an actor and writer on Saturday Night Live and has lent his voice to 22 Simpsons characters, including Homer's churchy neighbor, Ned Flanders, and Principal Seymour Skinner.
Shearer said there's a good chance that some of those characters might elbow their way into his commencement address.
"They have requested time from me at the podium," he said. "Since they're very persuasive characters, they have some things to say to the young people."
Such as?
"I don't want to give anything away," he said in the deliciously evil voice of the man who lords over the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, "but C. Montgomery Burns says that normally at these events you're referred to as tomorrow's leaders. I prefer to see you as cubicle fodder."
Told that Shearer intended to share the stage with his Simpsons characters, Goucher's president was delighted. Known for his Bart Simpson tie and for sometimes using a life-size cardboard cutout of Homer Simpson to remind colleagues and students that everyone is "a bumbler" from time to time, Ungar responded with his impression of Mister Burns.
"Egggsellent," he said. "That's eggsellent."
jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com
