Actor Tim Allen named 2021 commencement speaker

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Actor Tim Allen named 2021 commencement speaker
Tim Allen donned a Hillsdale sweatshirt in his hit show “Home Improvement.” | Facebook

Hillsdale’s 169th commencement speaker is none other than comedian Tim Allen.

Provost Chris VanOrman announced the decision in an email on Jan. 14, after President Larry Arnn hinted at the choice at the first annual senior class Legacy Board dinner the previous evening.

 “We are pleased to announce that Tim Allen will address the class of 2021 during the College’s 169th commencement ceremony on May 8,” the email read.

Allen, best known for his starring roles in the ABC sitcom “Home Improvement” and the ABC/FOX sitcom “Last Man Standing,” as well as both the “Toy Story” and “The Santa Clause” movie trilogies, has kept many Hillsdale students’ attention since a screenshot of Allen sporting a Hillsdale College sweatshirt in an episode of “Home Improvement” resurfaced. A graduate of Western Michigan University, Allen often wore Michigan college sweatshirts on his TV show, which ran from 1991-1999. 

Senior Class President Braden VanDyke said Allen was a popular choice in a survey of the senior class at the beginning of the fall semester, but it was Allen’s sense of humor that ultimately made the decision. 

“Among the chief reasons we decided to go towards this type of candidate is that in a year really filled with divisive politics, financial stresses, health concerns, and really general misery, we thought that Tim Allen provides comic relief in the best way possible,” VanDyke said. 

Born in Denver, Colorado, Allen moved to Michigan as a young adult and went to college to study film in the western part of the state. Allen, whose full name is Timothy Allen Dick, began his comedy career when friends dared him to participate in a comedy night at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Detroit in the 1980s. 

“When we considered him more deeply, we had a few things that really pushed us toward him as a candidate. He has Michigan roots, above and beyond being the voice of Pure Michigan commercials,” VanDyke said.

One Hillsdalian is particularly excited about Allen’s pending visit to campus: Director of Technical and Media Services Ted Matko. Matko’s collection of Buzz Lightyear figures spans every wall of his office in the TV studio on the first floor of the Knorr Student Center. 

Matko, whose daughter worked for Disney for several years, started collecting souvenirs of Buzz Lightyear as a joke. While Matko calls himself “more a Buzz fan than a Tim fan,” he said he smiled as soon as he heard Allen was the selected speaker.

“If you go back and look at the list of speakers that have been our commencement speakers, they’ve been tied to the media, more intellectual or academic, or political, like Clarence Thomas and Mitt Romney and so on,” Matko said. “This one could be more fun. I’m looking forward to this one, to see what he does.”

Matko, whose job involves managing most of Hillsdale College’s live-streamed events, from sports games to CCA lectures, National Leadership Seminars, and commencements, said he generally avoids asking for autographs. 

“I have a personal policy,” Matko said. “We deal with so many celebrities that I don’t bother them. If I have to do something professionally with the microphone or instruct them, I do it. But I don’t bother them. I don’t go get autographs, I don’t get my picture taken. But I thought to myself, I might have to make an exception for this one.”

Though Matko will watch the 2021 commencement address live from the control room, he said he hopes he’ll have an opportunity to take a picture with Allen and get his favorite — and largest — action figure autographed. 

“I have to let others make that decision, but it would be sort of fun to get a picture down here with him,” Matko said. “I’m not crazy, so I’m not going to be hounding him. It’s just sort of interesting that he’ll be coming. I don’t know if he’ll see this and think I’m a weirdo or not.”

At the senior dinner,  at which the Legacy Board members announced the class of 2021’s senior class gift, Arnn took the podium at the end of the event to hint about the speaker selection by referencing one of Allen’s movies.

“This is neither the time nor the place to announce the commencement speaker. And I’m not going to,” Arnn said. “I’ll just say one thing: Ever seen ‘Galaxy Quest’?”

Later, Arnn told the Collegian he was pleased with the choice of Allen as commencement speaker.

“People who do not like the movie ‘Galaxy Quest’ lack spirit and humor,” Arnn said. “People who do not like ‘The Santa Clause’ have hearts colder than the North Pole. Tim Allen, who asked me to say that he is deeply honored, looks forward to coming. He will give a great talk. Also funny.”