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Dean at Medgar Evers College Killed in Amtrak Train Derailment

 Derrick Griffith, Dean of Student Affairs at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, died in Tuesday's fatal train derailment in Philadelphia, the school announced Thursday.
Derrick Griffith, Dean of Student Affairs at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, died in Tuesday's fatal train derailment in Philadelphia, the school announced Thursday.
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Medgar Evers College

CROWN HEIGHTS — Derrick Griffith, a dean at Brooklyn's Medgar Evers College, died in Tuesday’s fatal train derailment in Philadelphia, officials said Thursday.

Griffith, 42, served as the college’s Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, according to a statement released by the school. He first joined the Medgar Evers community as an assistant provost in 2011.

Medgar Evers president, Dr. Rudolph Crew, said Griffith was a "standout" on campus, particularly as an advocate for young black men.

“He was a very strong individual, very ardent in his belief," Crew said Thursday. "He could become very challenging sometimes when he didn’t think things were going the way that they should go for the students. But all of those were qualities that endeared him to us and to the campus." 

"For that, he will be rememberd as, really, one of the stellar people in this entire college,” he said.

The school will hold a candlelight vigil for Griffith at 5:20 p.m. Thursday evening outside 1650 Bedford Ave., Crew said.

“Derrick was a pillar in the community,” read a statement from CUNY about his passing. "He served the students of Medgar Evers and the greater community with passion and he will be sorely missed."

Griffith has long served as an educator in the city, as a school principal, as the founder of the CUNY Preparatory Transitional High School in the Bronx and as the executive director of Groundwork Inc., an organization that serves children in New York’s high-poverty neighborhoods.

Just last month, Griffith earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban Education from CUNY’s Graduate Center, according to the statement.

He is survived by his mother and a young son, according to Crew.

Tuesday night's derailment of a New York-bound train carrying 238 passengers killed at least seven people with as many as a dozen passengers still missing, according to a New York Times report