Graduate Spotlight | Cade Plunk | Commercial Aviation, Class of 2024
For the past several years, Cade Plunk has been a catalyst for creating opportunities for University of Memphis students who want to pursue aviation.
Plunk has leveraged his passion for aviation to become a leader in a variety of ways.
He is the President and co-founder of the Memphis Student Aviation Association (MSAA) and a founding member of Alpha Eta Rho fraternity chapter Mu Chi Alpha.
Through these organizations, Plunk has been instrumental in creating community and connection for students interested in aviation.
MSAA, which Plunk co-founded with fellow student Brandon Carroll, has hosted various events that have helped students connect with local aviation companies.
Plunk, along with six other members of the MSAA — Sabrina Arcuri, Anna Leoni, Gennaro Sano, Jackson Pererman, Kolby Hilson and Lewis Loftin — recently attended the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference in Las Vegas.
This spring, three of these students joined the MSAA leadership team: Leoni transitioned into the newly created position of event coordinator, Hilson assumed the role of vice president, and Sano stepped into the role of treasurer, previously held by Leoni.
Members from the MSAA were able to attend one of the largest aviation conferences in the world.
Through his involvement in the aviation program at Memphis, Plunk is helping to make connections and create opportunities for himself and fellow students.
Finding a Passion for Airplanes
Plunk’s passion for aviation began when he was just a high school student.
He went up in a plane with a friend and then later did a discovery flight with a flight instructor that his dad knew at Muscle Shoals Regional Airport KMSL.
After those experiences, Plunk — still in high school at the time — knew he wanted to be a pilot one day.
“I was kind of confused about what I wanted to do,” Plunk said. “I was thinking about doing architectural drafting, and I was like, ‘Well, I really like that.’ I went home and researched it. I took all the money I saved up in high school, and I got my private pilot’s license.”
With a passion for aviation, Plunk, a native of Pickwick, Tenn., looked into aviation programs at Middle Tennessee State University, Delta State and the University of Memphis.
“I think the opportunities as far as networking and scholarship opportunities are just amazing at Memphis.”
Ultimately, it was Memphis’ proximity to his hometown that made Plunk decide to attend the UofM.
Once he got to Memphis, after being at Northeast Mississippi Community College for his first year in college, Plunk quickly realized ways to expand and improve the aviation program. At the time, there weren’t any aviation clubs or organizations for him to get involved with.
“I tried starting it by myself, and it was too much,” Plunk said.
“Then I met a guy named Brandon Carroll, who was from my hometown. After class, we talked and got to know each other. A couple of months later, we were like, ‘There isn’t a community here. Why don’t we start an aviation organization on campus and see what it does?’”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Building a Community
Plunk and Carroll started the MSAA with the intention of connecting students who had an interest in aviation.
The organization started with a small event — like resume days — and has grown to host much larger events.
“One of our biggest events was the Fly-In and Career Day at the Memphis International Airport,” Plunk said.
“We had over 350 people come and about 25 airplanes. We also had over 30 different aviation companies, organizations and colleges come out.”
“That was our first event for the community, not just for the University. We had a lot of high schools join and just try to push aviation because there’s a job for everything.”
Thanks to the connections Plunk and Carroll made through MSAA, they were selected to be interns for the University Aviation Association (UAA).
Plunk and Carroll were able to leverage their connections with UAA to help get more companies involved in the Fly-In and Career Day.
“We went up to them and said, ‘We’d love to have a job with you, but really, if you can do anything, come back to Memphis and help other students out,’” Plunk said. “That made people really excited about getting involved.”
The success of the Fly-In and Career Day helped grow the membership of MSAA and allowed the organization to create more opportunities for students. It has grown and is becoming an annual event hosted at Memphis International KMEM.
“Up until that point, we organized these great events but had fairly small turnouts,” Plunk said. “But since then, everything has picked up.”
UofM President Bill Hardgrave has even taken an interest in the MSAA as he has met with Plunk and Carroll many times over the years to discuss the club’s success and how the University can help improve the aviation program.
Memphis Student Aviation Association
In addition to his involvement with MSAA, Plunk was instrumental in getting the Alpha Eta Rho aviation fraternity at Memphis. Alpha Eta Rho invited MSAA to attend the NBAA conference in Las Vegas.
Alpha Eta Rho has a partnership with the NBAA and to help kick off the new chapter, Plunk worked with them to get more students to Las Vegas to get increase excitement.
The only problem was the conference was less than 14 days out, and it was going to be expensive to fly to and stay in Las Vegas for a week.
So, Plunk decided to reach out to the University to see if they would be willing to help.
“I called the dean,” Plunk said. “I was about to send her a long email explaining why it’d be great to go to this conference, but then I decided to just give her a call instead.”
And Interim Dean of the College of Professional and Liberal Studies Joanne Gikas said, “It must be perfect timing because I just got out of a budget meeting, and they said we have some more money to spend on programs.”
With the help of the University, Plunk and six other students from MSAA were able to attend the NBAA conference.
Plunk said the conference was an incredible experience and a great opportunity to make connections. He also expressed that the spark for the new Alpha Eta Rho Chapter at Memphis was kindled there.
“To be honest, it was hugely overwhelming,” Plunk said.
“You walk in, and there are over 1,000 booths and 15,000 people there. The biggest thing I got out of it was just making connections in a different setting. It also kind of opened the door to business aviation to me.”
He had always been told to go to the airlines as ‘this is the only route you have’ but now, Plunk and others were exposed to the myriad of options in business aviation.
Through his involvement in MSAA, UAA and Alpha Eta Rho, Plunk has been able to expand his knowledge and understanding of the aviation industry.
Furthermore, he’s also been able to connect students to opportunities in aviation.
While the Memphis aviation program is still growing, Plunk said there are ample opportunities for students who want to pursue aviation — they just have to be willing to put in the work.
“I think the opportunities as far as networking and scholarship opportunities are just amazing at Memphis. There’s a huge support network, and the professors really care about the students.”
Leaving a Legacy in Aviation
Plunk’s journey exemplifies how passion and initiative can transform a fledgling program into a thriving community.
From co-founding the Memphis Student Aviation Association to securing support for students to attend one of the world’s largest aviation conferences, Plunk has been a spark for change at the University of Memphis.
Plunk’s leadership and dedication have not only created opportunities for himself but have also inspired and empowered fellow students to take their own flight paths in aviation.
As the Memphis aviation program continues to grow, Plunk’s efforts leave a lasting legacy, proving that with vision, determination and a commitment to helping others, even a modest program can achieve soaring success.
