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Brothers of the Wind to Reunite at Embry-Riddle Before Wings and Waves Air Show

Group Helped Black Students Seeking to Break into Aviation in the 1970s and 1980s

Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 17, 2010 -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will host a special reunion luncheon Friday, Oct. 8, at its Daytona Beach campus for members of Brothers of the Wind, a pioneer group of African-American students. The event will take place a day before the weekend-long Wings and Waves Air Show, which is cosponsored by the university.

Brothers of the Wind was established at Embry-Riddle in 1974 to promote aviation in the minority community. Members also volunteered with kids in the university’s Upward Bound summer program, tutored in the community, and conducted outreach in local churches.

“Back then, there weren’t a lot of black students trying to do what I was doing,” recalls Dennis Henderson, a 1984 graduate, who was one of only about 200 African-American students at Embry-Riddle at the time. “To help make the transition of integration easier, many students like me became involved with Brothers of the Wind.”

Henderson also gained valuable leadership skills when he served as the group’s president for a year. “It taught me a lot about developing projects and working with people,” he said, “skills that I’ve used throughout my career.” Since 1989, he has flown for United Airlines and today is a captain on the B-767.

“This special reunion on Oct. 8 will give members of the Brothers of the Wind a chance to recapture some of the unity we shared many years ago,” said Clinton Weekes, a 1981 graduate and former Brothers president who now works in air traffic management for the Federal Aviation Administration in Miami.

The luncheon will be held at noon in the atrium of the College of Aviation Building.

To register for the event, go to www.ERAUalumni.org/BrothersoftheWind, call (386) 852-0952, or e-mail marci.stappung@erau.edu.

Those wishing to connect with members and friends of Brothers of the Wind or add memories, stories, and photos to an archive about the group, may also go to www.ERAUalumni.org/BrothersoftheWind.

During the weekend following the Brothers of the Wind reunion event, Embry-Riddle will sponsor the Wings and Waves Air Show Oct. 9-10. Details are available at www.wingsandwaves.com.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 150 centers in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.