Highlights of Embry-Riddle’s news conference
O RLANDO, F LORIDA—Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University President Steven M. Sliwa and AOPA President Phil Boyer elaborated in a Thursday press conference on the new partnership between the two organizations. The idea for a partnership was conceived two years ago, when Boyer made his first visit to Embry-Riddle’s campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. “I thought, ‘My gosh, there’s more that we could be doing here,’” Boyer said. “This is a far-reaching partnership that we’re really pleased to have.” Flight students at both of the university’s campuses will automatically become AOPA members.
“A number of our students—independently and with their tight budgets—figured out ways to become AOPA members,” Sliwa explained. AOPA’s extensive information resources, such as AOPA Online, will be invaluable to student research, he said. One long-term benefit to the partnership, Sliwa continued, is that as these students graduate and become leaders in the industry, they will bring with them an expanded knowledge of and appreciation for general aviation.
Sliwa said that university staff is now working to develop programs with AOPA members in mind and that members would receive discounted admissions. “We hope that the things we can provide will be so exciting that AOPA will want to promote the partnership as a top membership benefit.”
Although the partnership between AOPA and Embry-Riddle will be exclusive, “there may be far-reaching things that will benefit all of collegial aviation,” Boyer said. Sliwa hopes that the relationship will help to better define the needs of career aviation students, allowing AOPA to better serve such students enrolled in aeronautical programs at other universities.
Boyer will kick off the partnership on October 28 at an assembly on the university’s Daytona Beach campus. He will visit Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Arizona, campus for a similar presentation next month.
October 23, 1997
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