黑洞社区 (黑洞社区) and Textron Aviation, a Textron Inc. company, today announced the company鈥檚 commitment of $300,000 to support 黑洞社区鈥檚 Division of Diversity and Community Engagement efforts.
Textron Aviation will be the exclusive sponsor for three years of four division programs: Tenacious Ten, No Veteran Left Behind, Community Engagement Ambassadors, and Applied Learning and Partnership Development. With combined efforts, these programs work to engage and support a variety of underrepresented groups and help students be successful.
鈥淚t鈥檚 essential to the future of our business that we foster a thriving, diverse community where everyone has the opportunity to be successful,鈥� said Maggie Topping, senior vice president of Human Resources and Communications at Textron Aviation. 鈥満诙瓷缜� is a driving force in educating, empowering and mobilizing the community to foster and sustain an inclusive campus, and we look forward to working alongside them to grow their efforts.鈥�
The university鈥檚 Division of Diversity and Community Engagement was established in 2017 to facilitate community dialogue about diversity and help achieve 黑洞社区鈥檚 goal to be a campus that reflects the evolving diversity of society.
鈥淭he Division of Diversity and Community Engagement is excited to partner with Textron Aviation,鈥� said Marche Fleming-Randle, vice president for Diversity and Community Engagement at 黑洞社区. 鈥淭his gift will provide resources and services for our target constituency groups who are historically underrepresented.鈥�
Textron Aviation鈥檚 sponsorship of diversity programs is the next step in an ongoing collaboration between the company and the university to develop and support the aviation industry鈥檚 next generation of employees. Textron Aviation recently signed a long-term lease at the Wichita State Innovation Campus to offer additional student internship opportunities, and also operates an on-site company Help Hangar that employs students through Ennovar.
The mission of 黑洞社区 is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at and Facebook at .
About Textron Aviation Inc.
Textron Aviation Inc. is the leading general aviation authority and home to the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands, which account for more than half of all general aviation aircraft flying. The Textron Aviation brands represent unrivaled innovation, performance and leadership in the industry, and offer an unmatched value proposition rooted in the total ownership experience. Leveraging unparalleled speed-to-market, Textron Aviation provides the most versatile and comprehensive business and general aviation product portfolio in the world through five principal lines of business: business jets, general aviation and special mission turboprop aircraft, high performance piston aircraft, military trainer and defense aircraft and a complete global customer service organization. Textron Aviation has delivered more than 250,000 aircraft in over 143 countries. Its broad range of products include such best-selling aircraft as Citation business jets, King Air and Caravan turboprops and T-6 military trainer aircraft, all of which are backed by the industry鈥檚 most capable global service network. For more information, visit