College Dean Of Students Killed In Philadelphia Train Derailment
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Seven people were killed in an Amtrak train derailment Tuesday night in Philadelphia. One was an Associated Press employee, another was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. The third was a Wells Fargo executive, the fourth was CEO of an education startup and now the fifth has been identified as a college administrator.
Derrick Griffith, dean of student affairs and enrollment management at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York, believed in education — for himself as well as others.
He formerly was a school principal, and in 2003 he founded the City University of New York Preparatory Transitional High School. He also was executive director of Groundwork. Inc., an organization formed to support young people living in high poverty urban communities.
Griffith joined Medgar Evers College in 2011 as assistant provost. It was the first of a number of roles he would fill at the college, where officials said he urged students to pursue education "with vigor."
A month ago, the 42-year-old received a doctorate of philosophy in urban education from the City University of New York Graduate Center.
The names of the other victims killed are Jim Gaines (AP employee), Justin Zemser (midshipman), Abid Gilani (Wells Fargo) and Rachel Jacobs (CEO of ApprenNet). The two others have not been publicly identified.
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