Supporting diversity in the aerospace industry

UND members of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals attend national conference

Over the summer, members of the UND chapter of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals attended their parent organization’s national conference. The members are hoping more students can attend the event in the coming years.

A cadre of UND commercial aviation students and administrators attended the 2022 Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals conference Aug. 10-12 in Chandler, Ariz. The seeds of the chapter at UND were planted in 2019, but group members have taken strides to create an inclusive environment where minority aerospace students and professionals can flourish.

Attending the conference exposes the members to something they might not often see: representation.

“I had a lot of opportunity to chat with people whom I don’t get to usually chat with, and just see a reflection of myself in the uniform, which is huge,” said Maxwell McCoy, a senior studying commercial aviation and chapter president of OBAP at UND.

The UND OBAP chapter was represented by McCoy and members Jordon Apienti-Gyapong, Grace Heron and Gabriella Danyo. The faculty delegation was led by Elizabeth Bjerke, associate dean of aerospace, and Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, assistant professor of aviation and OBAP chapter advisor.

The annual conference features keynote speakers and several different professional development workshops to help provide college students with the tools and mentorship opportunities needed to transition from college to the cockpit. More than 30 different companies and hiring representatives participated in the event.

McCoy said the OBAP conference was a good opportunity to get down to the “nitty gritty” to see what his next few years as a commercial airline pilot will look like. That meant reconnecting with people he previously had seen on campus and watching them interact with their peers. The booth was visited by several alumni, including Capt. Eric Poole of JetBlue, who was instrumental in setting up UND’s OBAP chapter.

While UND was one of only three universities that staffed booths showcasing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the conference, McCoy said several other colleges with aviation programs were represented, in terms of the number of students who attended — students who he said received financial support to attend. He said that at UND, OBAP is represented very well through its social media accounts, group membership and faculty support, but funding to send more UND students to the conference would be an opportunity for other OBAP members to have the same experiences he had.

Adjekum agrees. It’s one thing, he said, for him to tell the story of aviation at UND, but it’s quite another for students to tell that story with their own voices. And many times, people approaching the booth said they were surprised that UND had an OBAP chapter, much less students of color in attendance.

“It becomes more poignant and stronger if you have a student telling their story at UND, than me as faculty trying to convince people that ‘Hey, it’s all bright and great among us at UND,’” Adjekum said.

Adjekum said he is hoping to take more students to next year’s OBAP conference in New Orleans.

Adjekum highlighted the crucial role of mentorship and suggested that students need to see and interact with peers who look like them and inspire them as they progress through the industry.

“If you don’t see that representation within a wider industry, that’s a challenge,” he said.

Working together

Elizabeth Bjerke, associate dean of aerospace at UND, said other student affinity groups attend national meetings as well. Such groups include Women in Aviation, Latino Pilots Association, National Gay Pilots Association and the Professional Asian Pilots Association. But she is particularly proud of how the groups work together on campus.

Bjerke said it is somewhat of a new concept to have these groups work together, as they did for a pair of events called “Faces of the Industry,” the most recent of which was held on campus Oct. 11. The events are aviation summits that focus on diversity within the industry and are completely planned by Aerospace student leaders.

Bjerke said the latest summit was “an amazing success,” with more than 16 industry speakers and attendance topping 500 aviation students.

“This was great because all the student affinity groups came together and put on the event,” she said.

All are welcome

McCoy said all students are welcome at OBAP activities, such as barbecues. He rejected the notion that students who are not people of color should think OBAP events are not open to them.

“Everybody working together and everybody just wanting to listen to one another is what is super important, and OBAP is meant to be a resource for everybody,” he said.

Adjekum agreed and said OBAP supports other affinity groups when they have functions or events. He said he appreciates that reciprocal support from other student groups and members of the campus community. He said he hopes to see students from all backgrounds at OBAP events, places that set the stage for mutual understanding.

“They get to experience us, and by experiencing us, that sets the tone for healthy conversation,” he said.