MTSU Mondays: Aerospace returns to AirVenture; earns free speech ‘green light’ rating

Here's the latest news from Middle Tennessee State University.

Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Aerospace brought True Blue back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the 2024 EAA AirVenture, connecting with alumni and industry partners during the world’s largest gathering of aviation enthusiasts.

Provost Mark Byrnes led a team of Aerospace students and flight instructors from the College of Basic and Applied Sciences to represent the university at the massive annual weeklong event, projected to attract more than 600,000 people and 10,000-plus aircraft.

MTSU’s team set up the Aerospace Department’s display near the EAA Control Tower, dubbed the world’s busiest during the event. The team was set to depart Oshkosh on Monday, July 29.

“As a premier aviation training university, it’s important that MTSU be not only present but active at the world’s greatest aviation celebration,” Byrnes said. “EAA gives us the opportunity not only to connect with industry leaders, but also our many alums.”

MTSU officials met with employers of aerospace graduates, including Delta, Southwest, FedEx, Endeavor Air and Republic Airlines. They also huddled with executives from manufacturers Diamond, Piper and Cirrus, all of whom currently are producing new aircraft for the Aerospace training fleet.

Discussions with Delta and Southwest centered on MTSU Aerospace’s partnerships to connect its students with their pilot recruitment and training programs, Delta Propel and Southwest Destination 225.

“Coming to EAA AirVenture has been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate aviation, meet other aerospace professionals and represent MTSU,” said Korey King, a May graduate of MTSU’s professional pilot program who is now assistant flight training manager. “The people I’ve met, and the experiences I’ve had, show how aviation can bring people together.”

This year marks the sixth year since MTSU stepped up its presence at AirVenture, at the suggestion of prominent alumnus Donald McDonald. The university welcomed alumni and industry partners for a BBQ dinner at its tent later Wednesday.

At the dinner, Byrnes recognized one of Aerospace’s distinguished graduates, Air Force Col. Aaron Reid, commander of Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force. Reid is tasked with ensuring CAP, the Air Force’s volunteer civilian auxiliary, is organized, trained and equipped to fulfill Air Force-assigned missions.

Reid was a cadet in CAP’s Sumner County Cadet Squadron before attending MTSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace maintenance in 2002.

A senior pilot with over 1,700 hours in the T-37, T-38, and F-15E, Reid flew combat missions in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MTSU and CAP have been partners in aerospace education since 2014.

MTSU earns free speech ‘green light’ rating from FIRE advocacy organization

Middle Tennessee State University is now among 68 universities nationwide that have received a "green light" rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, better known as FIRE.

A national free-speech advocacy organization, FIRE says the green light rating is reserved for institutions with "no written policies that seriously imperil student free speech rights."

"In my more than two decades leading this institution, it has always been a top priority for this campus to maintain a welcoming environment to the free expression of ideas,” said MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. “Moreover, being able to freely explore, debate and discuss these ideas is an essential component of what it means to be a successful scholar, an engaged citizen and a well-rounded human being."

MTSU has had a unique commitment to the First Amendment for nearly 40 years and is home to the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies, which promotes awareness of the First Amendment and quality journalism in Tennessee. The university is also home to the Free Speech Center, an online resource that houses the First Amendment Encyclopedia, a widely used collection of about 1,700 articles on First Amendment topics, court cases, history and many other educational initiatives.

Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center and member of FIRE's legal advisory council, said vague policies previously prevented the university from receiving a green light rating from FIRE.

"Improving MTSU's speech policies did not take heavy lifting," Paulson said. "It was done by tweaking fewer than a half-dozen phrases without changing the university's original intent."

For example, the revised violence on campus policy balances freedom of expression with the obligation to prevent physical violence on campus. Under this policy, only speech that constitutes a "true threat," defined as "a statement where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals," is prohibited.

MTSU Mondays content is provided by submissions from MTSU News and Media Relations.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Aerospace returns to AirVenture; school earns ‘green light’ rating