Eric Pate

Principal

Eric T. Pate, Ed. D, is a quintessential Detroiter, having been raised and educated in the city limits.
A Class of 1981 graduate of Pershing High School, Eric’s affinity for sports writing started there. He matriculated to Marygrove College, where he was a three-year letterman in basketball before pledging Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and transferring to the University of Detroit. At the U of D in 1986, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies.
Eric’s 21-year career as a sportswriter and journalist took him to the Grand Rapids Press, St. Petersburg Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Booth Newspapers, where he was the beat reporter covering the Detroit Lions. From 1997 to 2007, he hosted various sports talk shows on WDFN Sportsradio 1130.
Eric was an award-winning sportswriter for 20 years before making a career change into education. Currently, he’s the Principal at Explore Academy in Livonia. Previously, he has been an assistant principal at Romulus High School and with the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). Eric has also earned his master’s degree in the art of teaching from Marygrove College (’06) and a master’s in education leadership from CMU (’12).
In 2019, he defended his dissertation on Teacher Tenure and Evaluation in one school district in Southeastern Michigan. A proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. since 1984, Eric is the current Northern Province Undergraduate Advisor.