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Families and friends from across the country and around the globe recently gathered to celebrate more than 400 Eagles earning their diplomas from ��ݮ��Ƶ’s Worldwide Campus.

At the May 23 ceremony in a packed ICI Center on the Daytona Beach Campus, Worldwide Campus Chancellor John R. Watret, Ph.D., congratulated the graduates for embodying the pioneering spirit of Embry-Riddle’s founders, T. Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle. A total of 219 bachelor’s degrees and 225 graduate degrees were awarded at the commencement. The ceremony capped Embry-Riddle’s centennial celebration held across the 2025-26 academic year.

“You are forever Eagles united in the purpose, determination and the relentless pursuit of excellence, ready to shape the next century of innovation, discovery and leadership in the skies and beyond,” Watret told the graduates.

For husband and wife Travis and Alisha Manning, commencement was truly a family affair.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Maintenance with a concentration in Safety, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Business Administration.

Travis Manning said it meant a lot to cross the commencement stage with his wife and to have his 4-year-old daughter, as well as his niece and nephew, at the ceremony to see their “hard work pay off.”  The Army veterans also have a 1-year-old girl.

“We were working with two kids who were under three and just trying to get through school. So it's kind of a relief and a full-circle moment,” said Manning, who is manager at Gulfstream Aerospace.

Alisha Manning, who currently works in supply management, said she hopes to enter program management and to eventually become a vice president in the aerospace industry.

“I’m very proud of everything I’ve accomplished right now,” she said of graduation. “It feels amazing.”

Chelsea said the experience was even “more meaningful and rewarding” because the sisters pursued their Embry-Riddle education together. They motivated each other through challenges, celebrated accomplishments and grew both academically and personally, she said. 

 “While we each developed our own perspectives and strengths,” she said, “sharing this journey created a unique bond and deeper understanding of resilience, service and leadership.”

Kirsten noted Embry-Riddle’s combined pathways program, which enabled the sisters to earn their bachelor’s degrees in Homeland Security and then complete their master’s degrees in an accelerated manner. 

“The professors were super supportive,” she said. “The way the courses were structured was great. It was just building and building upon learning.”

Nicole Ariana Garcia, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics, decorated her cap with the words, “Para mi familia,” or “For my family.” The first-generation graduate also wore a stole with the Colombian and Panamanian flags. She said she now plans to continue her flight training in the hopes of becoming a first officer and eventually a captain for an airline.

“It means a lot to me to be able to represent Hispanic women in the aviation field,” she said, “as well as my family, and to break down those barriers and walls.”  

‘Go Fast’: Four-Star General Encourages Grads

Retired U.S. Air Force four-star Gen. John Hyten delivered the keynote address, encouraging the graduates to bring aviation’s intrinsic need to “go fast” to their future endeavors.

Before retiring in 2021, Hyten served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military’s second-highest-ranking officer. He also led U.S. Strategic Command from 2016 to 2019 and Air Force Space Command from 2014 to 2016.

In his address, Hyten touched on the recent controversy over commencement speakers discussing artificial intelligence. He recounted how the draft of President John F. Kennedy’s famous speech telling the nation, “We choose to go to the moon,” included phrasing about how space and nuclear science has “no conscience of its own” and that its force for “good or ill depends on man.”

Kennedy later added the words, “and all technology,” to that idea, Hyten explained. By presciently including those “three words,” Kennedy foresaw the challenges inherent with AI, Hyten said, adding that “it’s up to everyone in this room” to define the future of the technology.

Hyten, who also served as director of Space Forces for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, later told the graduates that they studied at “one of the most rigorous aviation and aerospace universities in the world” to operate in environments with no room for error.

“That training is not just for the cockpit, or the lab, or the mission control center,”  he concluded. “That training is for your life.”