Former Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Eric Striker has been hired by the university as a graduate assistant in Student Life, said Quy Nguyen, senior associate director of Student Life, in an email Jan. 25.
Nguyen said Striker will be "working with multiple communities, helping to build and strengthen bridges with student organizations."
"Eric has shown his willingness to speak up for marginalized communities while working alongside students from all walks of life," Nguyen said in the email.
Striker's hiring comes after a brief stint in the NFL. The Buffalo Bills signed Striker as an undrafted free agent in April 2016 but waived him in August 2016.
Striker is also the only student in the university's history to receive the Otis Sullivant Award for Perceptivity at OU, which is given to a person “who manifests intuitiveness, instant comprehension, empathy, is observant and interprets from experience," according to a press release from OU Public Affairs.
Striker emerged as an outspoken leader of the football team after the March 2015 Sigma Alpha Epsilon incident, in which members of the fraternity were on video singing a racist chant inside of a date party bus.
In his career at OU, Striker has had 23 career sacks at OU and recorded 191 total tackles.
Striker's hiring comes around the same time as Lauren Whiteman, assistant director of African American Student Life at OU, will be leaving the university to work at the University of North Texas. Zarah Cobb, graduate assistant in Student Life, will serve as the interim in that position when Whiteman leaves.
Correction: This article was corrected at 1:18 p.m. Jan. 25 to reflect that Striker has had 23 career sacks at OU and has not set the school record for career sacks with 42.
