Elliott D. Moorman ’71
Elliott died May 31, 2023, after living for many years with dementia.
He came to Princeton from a musical family (sister Melba Moore and father Clem Moorman) and Essex Catholic High School in Newark, N.J. He quickly involved himself in student government and became the first-ever Black president of a Princeton class for our sophomore year. He championed causes that included non-bicker alternatives, divestment in South Africa, and racial justice. Elliott majored in SPIA and lived in Wilson College. He also participated in debate competitions, the Harambee House Players, and the Association of Black Collegians.
He graduated from Columbia Law School and eventually started a law practice with classmates McCarter, Rickerson, and Quay in Newark. Through the years, Elliott practiced law in different settings, before succumbing to a variety of physical ailments in the mid-2000s that required an assisted-living setting in Milwaukee, near his son Kaliq.
Elliott helped procure musical acts for the class, including the 5th Dimension for sophmore prom and other performers for our 10th and 25th reunions. He was also active in the Association of Black Princeton Alumni (ABPA) and Alumni Schools Committee interviewing.
To his children, Justin, Rafiq, and Kaliq, and to other family and friends, the class extends its belated, deepest sympathies.
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Michael Kennedy
1 Month AgoMemories from a High School Friend
I went to high school with Elliott — four years in the same honors classes. While other students took business courses, we had Latin and Greek. He was one of the few black kids in the school, but he stood out. I remember swapping “your mama” jokes with him (he killed me) and him absolutely ruling at PE. As a fat nerd with glasses I couldn’t do one pull-up, but Elliott did 19. He was always impeccably dressed. I walked a mile to school while Elliott’s parents dropped him off in a Cadillac. I remember him delivering MLK’s "I Have a Dream” speech to the class as practice for some debate club thing. I knew he excelled at Princeton while I struggled at NCE and Rutgers Newark. I had long hair, smoked dope, and rode a Harley, trying to be a hippie while Elliott’s sister starred in “Hair.” No surprise that he went into law. I ended up in a job where I sat in a chair looked out the window all day (airline pilot). I was looking for something else on Google when I came across his obit, and even though 58 years have passed since we talked, I’m sorry he's gone.