Sixteen-year-old Lloyd Weir and his high school friend were intrigued by teachers who had letters after their names and vowed to earn some of their own. This became Lloyd’s lifelong goal. He did earn the letters—and then some.
After moving from Jamaica to Connecticut in 1980, Lloyd knew he wanted a career in radio and broadcasting. Living in Hartford, he first attended Manchester Community College, but discovered the program there wasn’t quite right for him. Manchester’s president referred him to Middlesex Community College, where he transferred his initial credits to major in broadcasting and communications.
“Middlesex was right up my alley,” reflected Lloyd, who attended Middlesex while also working part-time. “The students and professors were nice. They look out for your best interest and help you propel your career.”
Lloyd commuted from Hartford to Middletown for classes. “The location and scenery is beautiful there on the hill,” he added. “Driving to class mellowed me. When I got to campus, I was prepared.”
He remembers going out off-campus and into the community to get news stories and come back and produce them with a team. He recently returned to Middletown for a tour of the Center for New Media with professor John Shafer. “The campus is still nice,” he noted.
“We had great camaraderie at Middlesex,” said Lloyd. “I once went to register for classes and the registrar said to me, ‘You’re done!’ I enjoyed it so much I didn’t even know I already had enough credits to graduate!” He earned his associate degree in 1992.
Lloyd went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Marketing from Central Connecticut State University in 1997, where all of his Middlesex credits were accepted. He also worked for Ensign-Bickford Industries in Simsbury before applying for work with the state of Connecticut. In 2000, he accepting a position as the media production technician/night manager for Eastern Connecticut State University’s IT department.
But it doesn’t stop there. Lloyd went on to earn two master’s degrees—an M.B.A. from Regis University in 2003 and a Master of Science in Communication and Information Management from Bay Path University in 2006. “I thought that by getting two master’s degrees, it would be equivalent to getting a doctorate,” Lloyd reasoned to himself at the time.
Still, a colleague at ECSU, Professor Dennis Canterbury, encouraged Lloyd to get a doctorate degree. So he then found himself enrolled in the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership program at the University of Hartford. He completed his dissertation in instructional technology and earned his Ed.D. in October 2020.
Now known as Dr. Weir, he is still working for the ECSU IT department and is responsible for the operation of multimedia technology on campus. This includes all the classroom technology and equipment such as projectors, DVD/Blu-ray players, computers, and document cameras. He still has time to do what he always wanted in radio. Listeners can find his show about Jamaican music and culture at wwuh.org on Saturdays starting at midnight.
“People at Middlesex prepare you for the outside world and for the future. They want you to learn and succeed,” said Dr. Weir. “Once you reach it there, you know you’re going to finish.”
Lloyd Weir, B.A., M.B.A., M.Sc.I.M., Ed.D., certainly has.
January 2021
Written by Thea Moritz
