UNC Charlotte alum killed in train derailment called ‘LeBron James’ of school he founded

Derrick Griffith devoted his life to education, from his days as a UNC Charlotte student body president in the 1990s to serving as dean at a New York college.

In addition to helping others succeed, especially those from high-poverty communities, Griffith continued to improve his own education. He earned a doctorate of philosophy degree just last month.

But now, people who knew the popular educator are mourning his loss. Griffith, 42, was identified as one of eight people killed in a train derailment Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

A tribute video posted on YouTube honored Griffith when he left the City University of New York Preparatory Transitional High School in 2011. The school, which he founded in 2003, offers youths ages 16 to 18 who no longer are in school an opportunity for full-time study to qualify for college admission.

One person on the video called him “a true visionary,” and another said, “He’s like the LeBron James of CUNY Prep. He’s MVP – most valuable principal.”

Chuck Lynch, UNCC’s former vice chancellor for student affairs, said Griffith stood out as someone with a smile who always got a lot out of serving other people.

“I don’t think he ever had an enemy,” Lynch said. His first thought of learning of Griffith’s death was hoping it was a mistake, adding, “That’s a waste for humanity.”

At UNCC

In 1989, Griffith arrived in Charlotte after graduating from a Brooklyn high school for health professions, where he had earned a certificate in practical nursing.

He quickly established himself as a campus leader in the early 1990s. He served two terms as student body president, Lynch said.

Griffith took on issues ranging from diversity to AIDS to student fees.

In 1992, when UNCC trustees were approving a “resolution of diversity” to improve the campus climate for women and minority faculty and students, Griffith spoke out about what it was like to be black at the school.

Griffith, an ex-officio member of the trustees board, told the board he was once called a racial slur in an anonymous note. He spoke of a professor who included minorities and women when teaching history only to get an anonymous note with slurs.

“We need a commitment from the board to diversity and to creating a multicultural atmosphere,” he urged the board, according to an Observer article then.

He also advocated for UNCC’s plans to build a sports arena and a student activity center. Griffith even accompanied UNCC’s chancellor to Raleigh to lobby lawmakers for funds for the activity center, and did well there, Lynch said.

And after Magic Johnson announced in 1991 that he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Griffith advocated for greater education about the disease.

“We find it particularly important to educate members of the college community, because a lot of us don’t think it can happen to us,” he said then.

UNCC Chancellor Philip Dubois, who was provost in the early 1990s, recalled Griffith as an outstanding leader.

“Derrick was very active on campus and was committed to helping people,” Dubois said in a statement. “He had a lasting positive impact on people, and it was clear that he had a very bright future ahead of him. His passing is a great loss for the UNC Charlotte family.”

Griffith graduated in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in history. As a graduate student in 1994, he was one of four people to be honored when UNCC presented its first Diversity Awards, honoring significant contributions to appreciation of diversity at the university.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-Concord, graduated from UNCC in 1996 and also was a student body president who knew Griffith. In a statement, Hudson expressed his condolences and said, “Derrick was fondly known for his friendly, outgoing personality, campus leadership and passion for service to others.”

Serving with passion

After UNCC, Griffith continued to focus on education, working as a social studies teacher and school principal.

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 Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2011.

He most recently was dean of student affairs and enrollment management at the college, which called him a pillar of the community.

“He was a champion for the downtrodden and he encouraged students to pursue education with vigor,” the college said in a statement. “He served the students of Medgar Evers and the greater community with passion and he will be sorely missed.”

Continuing with his own education, the college said Griffith had just earned a doctorate of philosophy in urban education from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Griffith is survived by a son and his mother, the New York Daily News reported. Medgar Evers planned to hold a candlelight vigil at the college in his honor Thursday evening.

Griffith was a passenger Tuesday on an Amtrak train that was headed to New York when it overturned in Philadelphia.

Investigators have said the train was traveling at 106 mph – twice the 50 mph limit – before it ran off the rails along a sharp curve.

Among the other victims were Jim Gaines, an Associated Press video software architect; Abid Gilani, a senior vice president in the Hospitality Finance Group for Wells Fargo in New York City; Rachel Jacobs, CEO of the Philadelphia educational software startup ApprenNet; and Justin Zemser, a popular student leader and athlete at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Observer reporter Joe Marusak, editor Gary Schwab, researcher Maria David and The Associated Press contributed.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 7:37 AM with the headline "UNC Charlotte alum killed in train derailment called ‘LeBron James’ of school he founded."