Father and Son are Incoming Students at WCSU in Danbury

DANBURY, CT — New Milford residents Doug and Brandon Muckerman were among the nearly 1,300 people who attended a summer orientation session at Western Connecticut State University in July. Summer orientation is a rite-of-passage for new college students everywhere, but what makes their situation unique is that Doug and Brandon are father and son — and both attended as incoming students. Approximately 11 percent of WCSU’s incoming undergraduates are nontraditional students like the elder Muckerman.

Muckerman, 48, works at Cartus, a division of Realogy, in Danbury. He recently completed an
associate degree at Naugatuck Valley Community College and transferred his credits to WCSU
to pursue a CPA designation in accounting.

"I like numbers, and accountants deal with a lot of numbers; not to mention that they are among
the first people in a company to know if it’s doing well or not," Doug said.

Brandon Muckerman, 18, was a third baseman on New Milford High School’s baseball team and is involved with the Old Time Baseball Club.

"I am interested in studying Criminal Justice while attending WCSU, and want a future career in
law enforcement," the younger Muckerman said.

As to who committed to WCSU first, dad led the way.

"That was me," the father said. "That was the plan all along: start at NVCC and transfer to WCSU
for cost reasons."

His son agreed.

"I decided to attend WCSU because it is the most affordable option," he said. "I don’t want to
exit college with a lot of debt. I looked at a couple of other universities before selecting WCSU.
What made up my mind was the overall cost."

Now that father and son both will be students in a week, does either see a possibility for competition?

"Competitive? Yes, checking on GPAs," Doug said. “I think more me on him — I want to make
sure he passes all his classes. Not so much of who’s doing better, but if I am, I’ll be sure to let
him know,” Doug said, smiling.

Brandon wasn’t too concerned about it.

"I’m sure my dad will want to see my GPA, but not to see if it’s better than his," Brandon said.
"I don’t think we will have classes together since we have different majors, anyway."

Asked about whether they expect to run into one another on campus and how they will respond,
son and father chimed in.

"If I see my dad, I’ll say ‘hi’ and keep going to my next class," Brandon said.

"Brandon and I do not have any courses together this semester, but one never knows," Doug
said. "My classes are restricted to night because of work so we probably won’t see each other;
but if it works out — yes, we will probably eat together — only if I pay for it."