 It's a partnership that will train the next generation of pilots and a plan that is really, really major to me. The plan is to have up to 50% of those pilots to be women and people of color. Let's give a round of applause for that. I think that's really, really, really, really historic. Now this morning you were here from many guest speakers during this event, but I want to blow a little bit of energy right now and pick it up a little bit. If you're not awake, I'm getting ready to wake you up, so I want you all to welcome the EFSU Dreamline and the Brights. The aviation program here at Elizabeth City State University has taken off since its inception back in 2002, quickly becoming one of ECSU's signature programs. It is still the only four-year aviation degree program in the entire state of North Carolina, and it continues to grow. Part of the growth can be attributed to the vision of our fine and first guest speaker of the day. Please welcome to the stage the Dean of School of Science, Aviation, Health, and Technology, Dr. Kodip Rewar. The official launch of Elizabeth City State University and United Airlines A-Whip partnership. Though we signed this agreement back in April, I'm excited that we are able to get together today to celebrate this partnership. From ECSU, we have Chancellor Dixon, Dr. Ward, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, from United Airlines, represented by one of the key architect of this partnership, along with our Chancellor, Kate Jibo, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Labor Relations, Kyle Sucher, Director of Human Resources Planning and Strategy, Efrain A. L. Johnson, Director of Inclusive Talent Strategy and Programs, Lassusa, Manager, Aviate and Pilot Training, Cecilia Schell's Pilot Recruitment. Now students, what you see here is basically the hiring team for United Airlines. So make sure you get their contact information before they leave Elizabeth City. Okay? It's hard to get a team like this in one room. All right? In addition, we welcome our special guest, ECSU Board of Trustee Chairperson, Jane King Robinson, and our newly inducted trustee and graduate of ECSU's aviation program, Mr. Justin Waddell. We're also pleased to see members of our Aviation Advisory Board here. We have Mr. R.D. Johnson, the Chair of the Aviation Advisory Board, Scott Hinton, member of the ECSU Aviation Advisory Board, United Airlines Captain Michael Dunn, member of the ECSU Aviation Advisory Board, and graduate and current member of ECSU Aviation Advisory Board, Willie Nelson. Welcome. And last but not least, we are honored to have our guest speaker here today, United Airlines Captain Theresa Clair Bond. Captain, you will have the opportunity to listen to her later in the program. But at this time, I would like to invite our Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Dr. Ward, who will bring greetings and give us an overview of our academic offerings. Dr. Ward. Thank you. Thank you so much, Colby. And good morning and welcome to all of you to ECSU and the launch of our ADA program. We are thrilled to be entering into this partnership with United Airlines and for all of the opportunities that this program will offer for our students. At ECSU, our academic programs are designed to support the academic growth and development of our students. With three schools and over 30 academic programs ranging from unmanned aircraft systems to emergency management, ECSU offers a quality education at an affordable price. Founded in 1891 by the Honorable Hugh Kale as Elizabeth City Colored Normal School, ECSU's first mission was to teach teachers to prepare the next generation of educators. And while 130 years later, we remain committed to ensuring that we educate the next group of educators, as was indicated, we are the only four-year institution in the state of North Carolina to offer a bachelor's degree in aviation science and are proud to say that aviation science is our signature program. The aviation program was actually originally founded as just a minor within the mathematics program. But in 2002, it launched into a standalone bachelor's in aviation science. Over the last five years, ECSU's enrollment has grown by 48%. And it is no doubt that our aviation program is at the middle of that growth. Growing from just 47 students in 2000 to 16 to an anticipated growth of 154 students this coming academic year, our aviation science program has ruined the last. Now, one of the objectives of our new strategic plan, our 2020-2025 strategic plan forging our future was to enter into an agreement with an airline in an effort to strengthen our aviation science program. And I am forever grateful that even in the midst of a pandemic, we have been able to enter into this partnership with United Airlines to make this plan from our strategic plan come to fruition. So again, welcome to each of you to ECSU. Those of you who this is your first time visiting, this is your new home away from home, we know it will be a long-standing partnership. And I would be remiss if I didn't teach you one of the family secrets since this is your first time here. So we have so much Viking pride here in Viking land that when we say Viking pride, we don't just say it one time. We say it three times. And so I'm going to make sure that you go away knowing how to represent Elizabeth City State University. So in closing, Viking pride, Viking pride, Viking pride. I look forward to seeing you all again. So have another round of applause for Provost Ward. Thank you so much for that. Ben is a stay on the theme of history because we're talking about historic moments today and this is just one of them. So we're a stay on that theme as ECSU had another historic moment back on December 14th, 2018. That was the day which our very next speaker was named the 12th Executive Chief Officer and 7th Chancellor of this fine university. From day one, she recognized the importance of the aviation program. So I want to welcome to the stage the Chancellor of Elizabeth City State University, Dr. Carrie Dixon, and join in her stage representing United Airlines, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Labor Relations, Miss Kate G. Bow. Good morning. Y'all can do better than that. This is an exciting, very exciting day for us. Good morning. Good morning. You know, when I started here, as Clay mentioned, on December 14th of 2018, that was the official start date of my permanent position as Chancellor here. I spoke with the Provost, spoke with Dr. Rewatt, and as part of our vision and my tenure here, I wanted to make sure that we at some point had a partnership with a major airline. And as we envisioned what that would look like, we had no idea that it would come so soon. But when you do the right thing and you're moving the university in the right direction, all things come to fruition. Is that right, students? Yes. I am just delighted that this day has come. And I am so thankful to Kate. She is phenomenal. Kate and I serve on the Women Advisory Board for the FAA together. And we met and we, you know, she heard me talk about ECSU. She heard me talk about the fact that we won our story out there on the national level. She heard me talk about the great things and the excellence that was happening here at ECSU. Our students, our amazing alumni. And she gave me a call when Kate said, you know, I want to talk about something. And I want to talk to you to gain your interest. And she and her team met with us and she learned even more. They learned even more about ECSU. And that conversation, that piece of the importance of networking, led to bringing all of this to fruition. So Kate, I say thank you for your interest in ECSU, for your team's interest in the great things that we are doing here in our aviation science program. So again, good morning, everyone. Today is a great day. And it's a great day in the friendly skies. As we celebrate this launching of this partnership between the United 8 program and the Elizabeth City State University, this strategic collaboration that will allow United and ECSU to train the next generation of pilots. Can I get a hand clap? Yes, half of ECSU Board of Trustees, equities, staff, students for this mutually beneficial relationship. I would like to acknowledge once again the presence of our Board Chair, Jan King Robinson and one of our newest Board members, Trustee Justin Waddell. I would also like to acknowledge the presence of our city and county officials. Thank you all for your continued support and advocacy of ECSU and our aviation program. We have been, when we were partnered with this major airline, ECSU as we all know, and we all must say it loud. We are the aviation program in the state of North Carolina. With a qualified faculty of 12, we are proud to say our hard work has paid off. We have been preparing for is now. This partnership will provide pathways to a success of students. This partnership also provides a pipeline for the United to recruit great talent to join their team. This is a situation. The presence of the United Airlines representatives today is an indicator that we are about to take flight of this program. We will without excuse. Again, thank you so much, celebrate this momentous occasion. Thank you. I have a socially distanced tongue there. I can't tell you how excited we are to be here. And your chancellor is the biggest walking endorsement of this program. From day one, it was crystal clear what Elizabeth City had to offer. And as she described it to me, it really paralleled the path that United is on as well. You are on a path to growth with your program. We are on a path to growth with our airline. That growth is coming in over the next 10 years. So there are some great opportunities for the folks in this room to join United and join that journey. You are going to hear from Theresa Claiborne, one of our 787 captains later in the program, and hear about that journey and how you can succeed at United. But it's not just about aircraft at United, which is what drew me to editing that Chancellor Dixon was talking about when we talked about the program. It's about values as well. And at United, in inclusion, because every voice needs to be welcomed and heard, that leads to collaboration, which leads to excellence. Excellence and ideas in the way that we're beginning to lead as an airline. You'll see us talking about some of our involving aircraft orders. So we've got an agreement with the archery aviation to help develop some EVAL aircraft. We've also got the boom supersonic planning that we're doing. But it's not just about cool aircraft. It's also about the environment and sustainability, the way that we plan humanitarian efforts right now, with teams being deployed to Afghanistan on that humanitarian effort, and how much we take that very, very seriously within United. But it's also about creating careers, not just jobs, but careers at United. I've got over 25 years at United, and that's the average tenure at United, because you don't just come there for a job, you come there for a career. And while we're launching a program related to pilot training and the pilot pipeline, we hope to bring, those represent about 12,000 of the 67,000 jobs at United. So there's another 50,000 jobs at United that are unrelated to pilots. Those are things like marketing, training, human resources, Cropcom, procurement, IT, all of that. And that's where we want to partner very closely, not just with your flight team, but with your entire university to see what we can do to both build United and build Elizabeth City at the same time. And we are committed to being here. You're going to get to know us very well in the next couple of years. And so we look forward to that partnership. We have one bit of bad news, however, that I have to share. Unfortunately, our swag is stuck in Memphis due to the flooding that they're having there. But the swag will show up next week, so I'll give us another chance to connect with you. But it is coming, it is coming, so we know that that's really important. But thank you very much, Chancellor Dixon. Thank you to the board. And you can expect to see United on a regular basis on your campus. And please do reach out. Road 2 is your United Recruiting Team, and we are looking forward to talking to you. Thank you very much. So we want to say thank you to Chancellor Dixon and Vice President Jebo for that information. At this time, we have a ribbon here, and it needs to be cut to make this thing official. So if we could have some students from the aviation program make their way up, we'd also like the representatives here from United Airlines to make their way here to the stage as we get ready for the ribbon cutting. And we'll have to back up the podium just a little bit. But this is great, this is wonderful. And once we have everyone on stage for the photo op, I will count you all down before the ribbon cutting, so everybody get in place very much. We'll have a round of applause. When you dream of adventure, is it the destination? Or is it the journey that excites you? When you imagine your future, what are your limits? Or is it the sky itself? Are you looking for the best tech in the business at your fingertips while also building relationships in the terminal, in the cabin, or on the ground? At United Airlines, your journey will take you to countless destinations and on a world-spanning adventure. Are you ready to be part of the legacy rich with tradition, excellence and innovation? A thriving company where opportunities abound? To be based in some of the world's best cities and to commute to one from the place you call home. Do you want a company that dreams your dreams with you? A culture of caring, supporting your achievements, cultivating your success? Well, this is life at United Airlines. And someday at 35,000 feet, it may be your turn to say... This is your captain speaking. This is your captain speaking. This is your captain speaking. I'm going to say good morning to you. Oh, come on now. So, listen, I've got goosebumps at that intro. Let's see how I do. I want to give up my day job. I'll continue to be a captain on the 787. For United Airlines, flying out of Newark. I'd like to start by saying thank you specifically to Mr. Gooden for inviting me to this function. I was getting ready to go to bed in Paris, France when my phone rang and I thought, okay, I'm just now getting ready to go to bed. What does this person want? It was about midnight in Paris and I had a really early get up. But I picked up the phone and looked at my messenger and it was from Mr. Gooden. And he's asking me would I be a guest at the Ribbon Covenant ceremony for A.V.A. in United and Elizabeth City. And I looked at it and I ran. First of all, where's Elizabeth City? And then I started thinking I'm like, why does that mean we're not bound to May? Well, Elizabeth City was in the news not too long ago and the light came on. So I sent a message and I said, well, I really don't know what my schedule is yet. And I really didn't. I was previously supposed to go to Arizona or excuse me, Texas for the Wasp Museum. I happened to be a board member on the Wasp Museum and I was going to go there for a function and we actually ended up canceling it. And I said to him, hey, you know what, let me, let me look at my schedule and I'll let you know. So when I got home, reached out and found out that that event really wasn't going to take place. Then I got on the Google and said, okay, where is this Elizabeth City? Because honestly, once I get off the airplane piloting it, I don't necessarily want to go anywhere else. I want to go home. And I'm like two hours away. I'm kidding. That's my back door. So I reached back out to him and said, I would be delighted. And of course, anything that promotes the best airline in the world is something I should be participating in. And in case you don't know, that's an airline. When we start out by talking about some of the things that I've experienced and why I find it necessary to get out and mentor specifically women, but really all pilots, anybody who wants to get into this field because it's a wonderful field. Back about 25 years ago, I was in Denver for training and I came running down the stairs there. Some of you will end up in Denver and you'll know which stairs I'm talking about. And I come running down the stairs and I hear the woman behind the desk say, well, I have a ticket here for a T.M. Claiborne. Is that you? And I'm coming down the stairs and I get to the bottom of the stairs and say, hey, I'm T.M. Claiborne. And I walk up to the counter and there's a man standing there. And I guess he was about six foot five. And as you can see, I'm five foot two. And he said, well, my name is Tim Claiborne. And I said, well, I'm T.M. Claiborne. And I looked at him and I was kind of like looking at this. I'm like, hey, how's it going? He said, it's fine. How's it going with you? And I said, oh, I'm great, I'm great. I said, Claiborne, how do you spell it? He said, C-L-A-I-B-O-R-N-E. And I said, me too. I said, where are you from? He said, I'm from Suffolk, Virginia. I said, hey. I said, I'm from Emporia, Virginia. For those of you who know anything about Virginia, you guys are really right across the border. That's not very far. I mean, I think it's maybe about 40 miles between the two. And I said, whoa. And I looked at him and I said, slave owner. And he looked back at me and he goes, yep, we had a large plantation. For those who are not really familiar, that's how slaves got their last names. By the slave owner. He said, you know, Teresa, we've got history. Reach out. And I will give you all the history that I have on the Claiborne farm. The Claiborne plantation. Now, we had him as yet, before I knew it, he was retired. But I did look him up in his four corporations now. So I'll be able to reach out to him. And I'm definitely going to do that. On the way here, we got to Suffolk and turned south. I think it was on 250, I believe. And what I see, cotton fields. And it just kind of washed over me. That I'm looking at cotton fields. And there was a time where my people were the cotton pickers. And now look at us. I fly a 787 Dreamliner. For United Airlines. I just need chills to know that. The person who was really instrumental and made it possible for me to do that, is my mother Dorothy. And she's sitting right back there. Mama, can you stand up please? That was since I was 10 years old. And she said, Teresa, I want you to get an education. I don't want you to have to depend on anyone. I passed that on to especially other young woman I meet that is good to have known. And this profession is a specially good profession. Here's another little story. My first interview was not with United Airlines. It's a little secret. Y'all don't tell nobody. In actuality, when I got hired, it was back in 1990. And since I was the first black woman pilot, guess what? There weren't any, or any Air Force. There weren't a whole lot of black women running around that were qualified to fly for a major airline. So every airline wanted Teresa Claiborne. That's a nice feeling to have. But it, you know, brought on its challenges. My first interview, I won't mention the name of the company. I went there, and we'll just say that they had what they called an astronaut physical. And the physical, in the physical portion of it, I did not lift the grade because they said I was immune by 0.01 in my iron. So they said, instead, everybody else used to get in a letter that said, I'm sorry, but competition was stiff. I actually got a letter that said, take this to your doctor. Get prescribed a medication, and when you get your numbers up to snuff, come back. But taking that part of the physical, we sat there with a bunch of us that kinda looked alike. And when I said we looked alike, there was only obviously only a black woman, and it happened to be the only woman. There were five of us, four white gentlemen. But we all looked alike, and what I mean by that is we all had on blue pinstripe suits, we all had on a crisp white shirt, and we had a red tie on. My tie was a little different than my tie, but nonetheless it was a red tie. If there's one thing we know, airlines like uniformity. Don't show up in something crazy. Are you not gonna get the job? Trust me. So don't sit there, and everybody's nervous, you got your flash cards, you're kinda doing that last minute study, thinking, oh my goodness, if they ask me this, I'm gonna say this, if they ask me that, I'm gonna say that. And out of the blue, cause it's silence, and it's one of those hard silences, cause you're all nervous. Got my head down, looking through my cards, and I hear, well we all know you'll get hired, I stopped shuffling my cards. I looked up, everybody's looking up at this point, and I didn't even know who said it. So I said, what did you say? He repeats it. Well we all know you'll get hired, so I looked him straight in the face and I said, well why is that? And he said, because you're a black woman and you're a female. I said, do you think it could be because I have 2,500 hours of jet flying time, flying a Boeing 707, KC-135, and I've even been into combat zones, that I have an FE written, and an ATP, I said, do you think that could play a part in me? Getting a job? And everybody put their head back down, never heard another peep out of that gentleman. It didn't in there. And it still totally hasn't ended, there are people who don't know me, that I, I don't have to prove anything to anyone. United Airlines put this first strike on my jacket and I took all the same test everybody else took, and I'm a captain, but there is that pressure always of eyes staring at you. So every landing I make, I want to make it the best one. Every time I fly at the end of the flight, during debrief I say, what is it that Theresa can do to be a better captain? Because what I want them to do is leave the flight deck and say, when I flew with Theresa Claiborne, she's awesome captain, she's a good pilot, but she's an awesome captain. She took good care of us. She made sure everything was the way it was supposed to be. Because I know that if I don't do well, someone's going to look and say, oh yeah, that Janice, that black girl right there, I don't think she's going to make it. Because I've been there too. When they said I was too short, and I arrived at Pala train and they said, we were lacking about an inch in sitting height, and I sat for about four minutes during academics waiting for my waiver because I'd already gone out in a T-38 and held the brakes in afterburner. I'd already done that. I'd done everything I needed to do to get the waiver and they decided no more waivers. And I was told she needs to go back and get re-measured. I did that after the weekend where I laid on my water bed all weekend. And I got up on Monday morning and eased my way to the flight office and sat on the scale and the doctor who knew that I'd already completed all the steps to get the waiver looked at it and said looks like 34 to me. So I was on my way. But those obstacles are still there. Women tend to be shorter. I know we have some tall ones in here. Army pride. That girl's tall. When I first took my captain Baderwood to Dallas I flew with the first officer who was a very nice guy. But after we'd been in the air for a little while he started talking about his buddy who hadn't been hired at United Airlines. And I thought to myself here we go. Theresa, don't get excited. I let him talk a little bit and I said hey look I know this isn't exactly politics but I don't talk politics on the flight deck. His chances are you and I I'm talking to him have a difference of opinion. Let's keep this flight deck civil. Let's do our jobs. I'll be captain. You'll be first officer. That was a little hint. I'll be captain. You'll be first officer. And let's get this airplane safety on the ground. And then when we get to London we'll go to the pub tonight and I'll have a sider and you can have a beer. We'll talk about all that. So we get on the ground. We all came up with the time to go and have a meal. It's always fish and chips for me in London. With a sider. And I said so tell me that story you were telling me about. I was like oh yeah you know my friend tried to get hired and he just I said well you know I don't know why your friend didn't get hired but maybe he just can't do a good interview. He may have a lot of hours but maybe he just can't interview. I said but I will tell you this there are only 17 black women pilots at United Airlines. 17 y'all we have over 12,000 pilots. There are 17 of us. I think there are about 220 total blacks and maybe a few more added to that. Of those 17 black women two of us are captains. So I looked at him and said trust me I did not take your friend's job. You are all here at Elizabeth City. This is an HBCU so we all know why HBCUs came into being. It wouldn't allow you at the white universities. So you have to come up with your own education system. And you have to teach teachers so that we could show that we could be more than cotton pickers. United Airlines yes there was a joining of two people but United Airlines is also a champion of diversity. It may not sound like it when you hear that there are only 17 black women but we are leading black. United Airlines has more black flight officers than any other airline. United Airlines has 900 women which is more than any other airline. Besides I think Air India they have more. So United Airlines is really leading the pack with diversity. So people don't like that word but it's a good word. I will never forget flying on a KC-135 and coming back from that flight and doing a debrief and my boom operator said well I got something to add. I'm like come on boom when I got to add. He said this was the most pleasant flight I've ever been on in my life. He threw me back. I said what? He said yeah. It just so happened that flight I was the captain or the aircraft man or the way we call it in the Air Force. That's what we do in the Air Force. The Navy I don't know what they do but that's what we say in the Air Force. And my co-pilot or first officer was a woman and my navigator was a woman. And he said this was I just love this flight. I loved it. I said why do you think that is? And he said I think it's because there wasn't a bunch of testosterone bouncing off the windows. Listen y'all there's something to be said for that. This is nothing against you males. But you don't need us. He needs to calm that whole atmosphere down. It's a pleasant atmosphere. It really is. So if you haven't been convinced yet that you want to fly with women you need to get that entrenched in your mind because guess what United Airlines that's what we're going to do. Okay? United Airlines took a big hit when they announced AV-8. There were things swollen. National News said what they wanted to say. There were people writing things like well why are they getting hired just because they're black? What about the best pilots? Y'all are going to be the best pilots. White and black. We're only going to take the best. You're not going to get a job just because you go to a lesbian city. We're just going to look at you first. So you need to bring it. Okay? Not only that. With United being here now the competition's going to start to get stiff. You better keep your grades up because a lot of people want to come here. I was bowled over when I heard what your tuition was. And the fact to get through this program flying is about $35,000. I call it from zero to 60, but it's from private up to your CFI or MEI, whatever you choose. That's awesome. At AV-8 we're going to do it for about $75,000. That's a big chunk of change. And for the most part I believe we've got some of the interviewers here and some other folks who know some of the specific numbers but a lot of those people are already college graduates. So you are here at Elizabeth City a wonderful university where you're not only getting your flying for $35,000 but you're getting a wonderful education. It's always good to have a backup. Always good to have a backup. Property here at Elizabeth City I said, how am I going to talk about opportunity besides the fact that you're all here? You know what, I looked at it and said, you go ahead and look at this word and you got to break it down. And I thought about, I could say what O stands for and what P stands for and OPP now anyway. I'm dating myself. But here's what I came up with. The end of opportunity is unity. And what we have is a unified team here, right? You and I for United. Team Y for Elizabeth City. Unity. All right? We're going to make this work. We're going to make this work. Now I brought my bag up here because I want to show you a few things. I'm almost done. Things that I take with me to fly. Number one, always have my driver's license. This is my Virginia driver's license. Always have my FAA certificate. Because if the inspector gets on board, that's what they're going to be asking for. Where's your certificate? Where's your medical certificate? And I got that too. Down here in my case, I've got my passport. And I've got something else that I always have to have. It's a C cushion. Now I don't have endoics. I'm just five foot two. In a 787 Dreamliner, we fly with something called a HUD, a heads up display. That flips down. And the bottom of the HUD is our compass rose. I can't see the compass rose without my cushion. So I always have it. When I told you about how they were making a big deal about she'll be short and I wouldn't be able to do the program. You can do what you want to do. Now I couldn't have one of these in a fighter jet. No. And we flew the T-37 and the T-38. I think you flew the same thing. They've gone away from the T-38, but in the T-37. So I couldn't have one of those in those airplanes, but those seats came up high enough. And I kind of have relatively long legs. I didn't have problems with rolling the rudder pedals in. But the 787 has gotten me. So I've got my cushion. My final word. And I'm taking some liberty here. The last thing that I always have with me is my COVID vaccination card. I hope you all have yours. All your students out there. This is my word. This is not necessarily United Airlines talking. Although United Airlines is forefront on that too because we've already said to our people, you will take your COVID shot. It's good business. It's good for your health. It's good for our passengers. It's good for everybody. If you are students out there, you don't have a COVID card. You are putting this entire university at risk. Remember when it was like last semester? Online courses? You can't fly an airplane or a line of a shoe on a simulator. And I don't think you guys really like that, do you? So go get your COVID shot. I'm hoping that the university, they figure out some way maybe to bring those vaccinations here on campus. It's even more important for you people because you're sitting on the flight deck with someone right next to you. That ain't no six feet. So don't take the chance. If you have been vaccinated, you are susceptible to a breakthrough. So if you're not vaccinated, don't be responsible for getting someone a breakthrough. You know, you might be one of those people that's just a carrier. You don't show any signs of it. So please, get your COVID shots, okay? I don't know what your mom and daddy's telling you. I know that your administrators are trying to get you all to do it. I wish that the state of North Carolina would say you had to do it. But Pfizer just got a final approval. So those who said, oh, well, you know, it's just experimental I'm not going to do it. It's not experimental. They've got final approval. Do the right thing, get your COVID shot. That's all I got. Final applause for Captain Claybourne. Thank you for that information. Stay standing because at this time, ECSU Chancellor Dr. Kerry Dixon has a special gift for Captain Claybourne. So Captain Claybourne, as I told you yesterday, we are so honored to have you here today to celebrate this partnership with United Airlines. And what you have done, the path that you have provided for many to come behind you, you are a giant. And we are so excited. And look, I have to have me a little cushion too. We are so excited to have you here and to be a partner of ECSU. So one thing I would like to present, and we only present this to our very special friends of the University, is a challenge coin. Oh! Always be a Viking. Very privileged to have you. Yes, she knows how to do the V too. Viking pride. But we also would like to provide you with a little gift to say thank you on behalf of the University, the administrators, the faculty, the staff, our alumni, our friends. Thank you so much for spending time with us today and answering Mr. Goodson-Coll, where he asked you to come here and spend a day with us. So thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. I guess we can finally say that AVH is official there on the campus of ECSU. It's had a round of applause for everybody who put this together. I want to take this time to thank all of the representatives who are here from United Airlines. Thank you so much for your partnership and working with Elizabeth City State University. I also want to thank the ECSU Board of Trustees who are here and just everyone here who is from the community of Elizabeth City in Northeast and North Carolina for this special occasion. Of course, Captain Claymore and I honored to have you here. Thank you so much. Round of applause finally for her. So thank you for that information. I can honestly say that ECSU was doing its part with the COVID vaccine. We have a weekly testing that takes place here on campus. On this historic occasion, we're going to bring up the ECSU drumline and the ECSU Delights one more time for a final performance before we go any further. If I could have everyone in here say, bike and tire. Bike and tire. Bike and tire. Bike and tire. Thank you all. Have a good evening. Two-two live. We want to thank you. Also want to thank the team of W18BBTV, the on-campus television station here at ECSU. Finally, for all the students who've been in the aviation program, if you could, stay back so you get to meet up with some of the members, representatives here from United Airlines. That concludes today's program. Thank you all for coming out. Have a wonderful day. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard to United Airlines Flight 743. I'm your Captain Brian Jackson, chief pilot here at Los Angeles and National Airport. What do you want to be when you grow up? A pilot. That's right. A pilot. So you can say, I want to be like them. I'm part of a rich history. A post that goes back to the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black pilots to fight in World War II. And they set a precedent of having African-Americans in the flight deck. I wouldn't be here without them and I want to be able to supply opportunities like that for generations to come. So programs like the Siskiki Nex Program helps to put these faces in front of the kids today so they can see those that they can aspire to be. Those opportunities weren't there when I was growing up. It is important not to forget the past and that to me is what makes me most proud to be an African-American leader here at United Airlines. Aviation is my life. United is my family. Good to be back. How's everything today? It's important to me to know that every step that I take is allowing other people that look like me the opportunity to do these same things behind me. Even my daughter who today is taking lessons to become a pilot I'm behind her in any dream or goal she wants to achieve. Just remember you can do anything that you want to do and nobody can tell you no. Got it? Follow your dream work hard overcome obstacles and you can achieve anything. Our strategic plan that we have titled Forging Our Future is a plan for the university's outlook as we build a map of where we want to go for the future. One focus is growth and then also building our regional development and then we want to look at ways in which we can enhance our capital. How do we attract people here to want to work, to want to live in this area of northeastern North Carolina and I'm very proud of our students and they never forget their past but it becomes part of their story part of their journey and their narrative that they are even more anxious and excited to share and talk about. We always say we want our students to come here to discover their passions but leave to conquer their dreams and here I think they will definitely get that opportunity to do exactly that.