By ALISA THOMAS

Staff Writer

Eta Mu Sigma, the national collegiate aviation honor society at Tech, inducted its charter members April 29.

Twenty-five junior and senior professional aviation majors were initiated at the ceremony. Gary Odom, an assistant professor of aviation and adviser for the society, explains the goals of Eta Mu Sigma.

“Eta Mu Sigma’s purpose is to recognize and honor those individuals in the field of collegiate aviation who have, through scholarship and outstanding achievement, been a credit to their profession,” Odom said.

The society was established by the aviation management students at Auburn University in Alabama.

It was established when students tried to enter an aerospace engineering honor society but were rejected.

“The students researched the situation and found there was not a collegiate honor society for aviation majors, so the students drafted a constitution and set up by-laws to comply with the national association of honor societies,” Odom said.

Tech’s chapter of Eta Mu Sigma requirements for getting started were to have a 100 professional aviation majors and have at least 25 students eligible and interested.

Inductees are glad the university now has its own aviation honor society.

“It’s good because it is a more elite group based on academic performance,” Kenny Flowers, a senior and vice president of admissions and public relations to the organization, said. “Having this group will encourage students to work harder to achieve academic excellence.”

To qualify for membership, juniors must have an overall GPA of at least 3.5 and seniors have to have a GPA of at least 3.3.

Odom requested permission from the national office in Auburn and the approval of Odom’s department head, Dale Sistrunk, director of department of aviation and an aviation professor was required to lift Eta Mu Sigma off the ground.

For the induction ceremony, faculty members from the professional aviation department were present along with retired faculty member, Joe Brotherston.

The guest speaker for the occasion was Aubie Pearman, a professional pilot for Greer and Pipkin Law Firm who owns and operates Tupelo Aero, Inc., an aviation company, located in Tupelo, Miss.

Drew LeBlanc, a senior vice president of general admission for the society, valued what Pearman spoke about and enjoyed his presentation.

"The ceremony was nice, Mr. Pearman was informative and entertaining,” LeBlanc said. “People got more than they expected from the program.”

Pearman’s speech concluded with words of encouragement to the inductees.

“Do not give up on your dream . . . be assertive . . . and continually upgrade your credentials.”