Erick Munene Njue

Erick was an International PhD student at the University of Oregon, and a former high school teacher in Kenya. Erick came to Oregon in 2021 as a Fulbright language teaching assistant, then started his PhD in Special Education afterwards. He recently had advanced to PhD candidacy. Erick held a bachelor’s degree in education, linguistics, and literature from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Science in education policy and leadership from the University of Oregon. He was interested in education policy for dually identified students, inclusive education and identification, and the referral and assessment of dually identified students. He was involved in research on the Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach (ISLA) to reduce the school-to-prison pipeline and enhance adolescents' literacy skills in juvenile detention. Erick was beautiful, full of life, hardworking, life-of-the-party with a ready smile and always active. If not in class or the library, Erick was somewhere jogging, doing marathons in Eugene or on his bike. He passed away while engaged in what he loved to do: biking. His profile introduction from his LinkedIn page: I am a teacher, linguist, education policy maker and leader, and a special education researcher. I champion for education access for all. I believe in inclusion of people with special needs, all gender, race, and religion. I am proud of instructing and helping students transition to the next levels in primary and high school levels in Kenya. I successfully completed the Fulbright Language Teacher Assistant (FLTA) where I assisted students learn conversational Swahili within a term in 2021. I'm glad to have been involved in hiring a record of over 150 student food service employees at the University of Oregon Dining Services. I also enjoyed working in food production and service during this time.