Crosby Scholarship Award at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

NEWS RELEASE

Communications and Marketing Office
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Pam Small
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158

Embry-Riddle ROTC Ceremony to Feature New Scholarship and NASCAR’s Car #08

Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 6, 2008 -- NASCAR’s car #08, sponsored by the U.S. Army, will make a pit stop Monday, Feb. 11, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach campus. The vehicle will be parked at the campus’s ROTC Center during the awarding of a new scholarship for Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) students.

The Capt. Herbert C. Crosby Scholarship was created last year by the family and friends of Crosby, who died in a crash in South Vietnam in 1970 while serving as a helicopter pilot with the 1st Aviation Brigade during the Vietnam War. His remains were identified in 2006 and returned to the United States for interment at Arlington National Cemetery in 2007.

The first scholarship, for $1,000, will be awarded to Benjamin John Boxler, a cadet in Embry-Riddle’s ROTC program, who will be commissioned into the Army’s engineering branch when he graduates this May. The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the campus’s ROTC Center at South Clyde Morris and Richard Petty boulevards. The event is free and open to the public.

The scholarship will be presented to Boxler by Capt. Crosby’s sister, Mary Lou Wade, and Army ROTC Lt. Col. Mike Schaefer.

Although Capt. Crosby was not a graduate of Embry-Riddle, Wade said her family set up their scholarship fund at the university because “Embry-Riddle is at the top of the list for flying. The scholarships are a living acknowledgement of my brother’s service.”

The scholarship is awarded to cadets who meet high academic and Army ROTC standards and are eligible or on track for a commission in the Army after completing their studies. Awardees also write an essay on their personal commitment to national service.

The Crosby family and Embry-Riddle are working together to increase the size of the scholarship fund so that more and larger awards can be given in the future, according to Wayne Munson, executive director of alumni relations at the university. To learn more about the fund or to contribute, contact Munson at (386) 226-7600 or wayne.munson@erau.edu.

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.