Astronaut Launches Black History Month at Embry-Riddle

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Astronaut Benjamin Alvin Drew to Launch Black History Month at Embry-Riddle

Daytona Beach, Fla., Jan. 15, 2008 -- On Feb. 4 and 5, NASA astronaut Benjamin Alvin Drew will return to his alma mater, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, to launch Black History Month activities at the university’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus.

On Monday, Feb. 4, Drew will visit Campbell Middle School in Daytona Beach, where he will speak to students from 9:15-10:15 a.m. In a partnership program at the middle school, Embry-Riddle uses aviation and aerospace to enrich the 6th grade math and science curriculum.

At 7 p.m., Drew will speak at Embry-Riddle about construction of the International Space Station and his flight as a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavor Aug. 8-21, 2007. His lecture will be in the Willie Miller Instructional Center on the Daytona Beach campus, and is free and open to the public.

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, Drew will visit Cypress Creek Elementary School in Port Orange, where he will give a presentation to 2nd-5th graders from 12:45-1:30 p.m. This spring, the university will begin an after-school aerospace club at the school.

That evening, Drew will be the featured speaker at the Black History Month Banquet co-sponsored by the Embry-Riddle student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers at the Daytona Beach campus.

Drew’s visit to Daytona Beach is sponsored by the university’s Office of Diversity Initiatives.

“It is an honor to host Col. Drew,” says Maranda McBride, assistant professor of human factors and systems at Embry-Riddle and faculty advisor of the black engineer student chapter. “It’s important for our students to realize that goals that appear to be impossible due to circumstances beyond their control are indeed possible if they are willing to devote their time, energy, and skills to achieve them. I’m certain that Col. Drew’s appearance will have a positive impact on all students, regardless of their race.”

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Drew earned a master’s degree in aerospace science from Embry-Riddle’s Las Vegas education center in 1995. He also has a master’s in strategic studies in political science from the U.S. Air Force Air University.

“Col. Drew’s visit to our local schools could very well change the course of students’ lives and inspire them to follow in his footsteps,” says Joanne Detore-Nakamura, director of diversity initiatives at Embry-Riddle.

Drew’s visit to the campus is part of the Diversity Lecture Series, which has held recent events at Embry-Riddle marking Hispanic Heritage Month, Disability Awareness Month, and World AIDS Day, among others. The lecture series is chaired by Jennifer Carney, an instructor of humanities and social sciences.

Other Black History Month events at Embry-Riddle:

Friday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m. I Leave You Love, a play by Lois Fennelly celebrating the life of Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman University. The drama will be performed by faculty and students from Bethune-Cookman, Daytona Beach College, and Embry-Riddle in the Willie Miller Instructional Center, on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus. The performance, an Arts & Letters Series event cosponsored by the Office of Diversity Initiatives, is free and open to the public.

Friday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m. Daryl Davis, a Grammy Award-winning blues musician and an African-American, will share his experiences befriending members of the Klu Klux Klan in an attempt to explore the roots of racism. He documented his adventure in his book, Klan-Destine Relationships. Davis’s lecture is an Arts & Letters Series event cosponsored by the Office of Diversity Initiatives. The lecture is $5 for the public and free to Embry-Riddle students and employees who show their Eagle cards. It will be in the university’s Willie Miller Instructional Center.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through its Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.erau.edu.