UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School will hold a memorial service for Matthew Troy O’Neill on Friday, October 24 from 4-6 pm in the Don Gevirtz Boardroom of the Education Building on the UCSB campus. The event will be an opportunity for faculty, students, and staff of the Gevirtz School to remember the life and accomplishments of their colleague who sadly was killed in a bicycling accident on August 10 in Santa Maria.
Those who plan to attend are asked to please RVSP by October 17, 2014 to rsvp@education.ucsb.edu.
O’Neill had just finished his third year as a doctoral student in the Special Education research area, under the direction of his advisor Dr. George Singer. Friends and colleagues remember him as a quiet and seemingly shy individual who became strong and forceful when advocating for the legal rights of people with disabilities and their families. He was adding a Ph.D. to his legal training to help parents and teachers better meet the needs of their children and students. Matt was an expert in special education law and had worked as a legal advocate in the Los Angeles area before entering the UCSB graduate program.