WILMINGTON, Del.- A new bill to help ROTC students at Delaware State University and other HBCU's across the country passed the Senate on Thursday.
The vote most importantly passed the text of the Fostering Leadership and Inclusion by Growing HBCU Training (FLIGHT) Act of 2020. Delaware Senator Chris Coons and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester sponsored the bill which will provide new resources to ROTC students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority institutions.
The resources will be centered around support for flight training and will be divided into two new programs. The first will give funding to ROTC students who commute long distances for necessary trainings. The second will fund flight training for these students, with top priority given to those who go through flight training at their respective HBCU.
Senator Coons hopes the bill will encourage partnerships between the military and HBCU's.
“I am proud and encouraged to see the FLIGHT Act on its way to becoming law,” Senator Coons says. "The FLIGHT Act is just one of many steps we must take to ensure that those who lead our country also fully represent it. I thank and congratulate my colleagues on this victory, and I look forward to working with them to put FLIGHT into action in Delaware and across the country.”
According to Senator Coons' press release, about twenty percent of the Air Force is African-American, but only 1.7 percent of pilots are Black. Senator Coons says other branches of the military have similar statistics and he hopes that changes.
"Our service members come from all walks of life, but people of color remain underrepresented at the military’s highest levels," Coons adds. "’s military aviators will become ’s best-trained commercial pilots. Our current officers in uniform will become our policy experts, our CEOs, and often our political leaders."
ROTC scholarships are unable to be used for flight training, which can affect a student's dream of becoming a pilot. However, with the FLIGHT Act passing through the Senate, low-income students can now accomplish that goal.
