Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
MTSU True Blue TV's broadcast: Middle Tennessee State University’s partnership with the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for aerospace training and education took flight with the visit by the 700-island nation’s minister of energy, utilities and aviation.to the Murfreesboro campus.
The Honorable JoBeth Coleby-Davis, whose portfolio in the government of Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip "Brave" Davis now includes aviation, led a delegation of government and education officials from her country to set into motion an initiative with MTSU called PEARL, which stands for Partnership in Education Excellence, Aviation Research and Leadership. This visit was Aug. 11-14, 2026.
Prime Minister Davis’s government is investing in the expansion and enhancement of the commonwealth’s aviation infrastructure, including more airports. The PEARL Initiative would build a pipeline of future Bahamian aerospace professionals, trained by MTSU and the University of The Bahamas, as pilots, aviation maintenance specialists, flight dispatchers and airport facility managers.
Coleby-Davis and MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee amended the partnership document signed in 2025 between The Bahamas and MTSU to include details about the PEARL Initiative. PEARL is expected to take off next summer with the first-ever residential program on the MTSU campus for Bahamian high school students interested in Aerospace careers.
The delegation also toured MTSU Aerospace facilities, met with leaders of Nashville’s international airport and checked on Bahamian students already enrolled in flight training at the university.
MTSU True Blue TV's broadcast: Middle Tennessee State University’s partnership with the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for aerospace training and education took flight with the visit by the 700-island nation’s minister of energy, utilities and aviation.to the Murfreesboro campus.
The Honorable JoBeth Coleby-Davis, whose portfolio in the government of Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip "Brave" Davis now includes aviation, led a delegation of government and education officials from her country to set into motion an initiative with MTSU called PEARL, which stands for Partnership in Education Excellence, Aviation Research and Leadership. This visit was Aug. 11-14, 2026.
Prime Minister Davis’s government is investing in the expansion and enhancement of the commonwealth’s aviation infrastructure, including more airports. The PEARL Initiative would build a pipeline of future Bahamian aerospace professionals, trained by MTSU and the University of The Bahamas, as pilots, aviation maintenance specialists, flight dispatchers and airport facility managers.
Coleby-Davis and MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee amended the partnership document signed in 2025 between The Bahamas and MTSU to include details about the PEARL Initiative. PEARL is expected to take off next summer with the first-ever residential program on the MTSU campus for Bahamian high school students interested in Aerospace careers.
The delegation also toured MTSU Aerospace facilities, met with leaders of Nashville’s international airport and checked on Bahamian students already enrolled in flight training at the university.
