“Nadia was an amazing person, to put it very simply. If you were in Nadia’s presence, it was likely you were in a good mood,” senior Jamil Pines-Elliott said. “She just had something about her that made people want to do good. Life will never be the same without her, but I will always be sure to celebrate everything that she did and stood for.”
On New Year’s Eve, senior political science major Nadia Mourtaj, her sister Zeyneb Mourtaj and their cousin Meklit Techlehaimanot were involved in a car accident. Zeyneb passed away at the scene of the accident, and Nadia passed away Jan. 9, 2019.
The sisters had a joint funeral a couple of days after Nadia’s passing near their home in Waldorf, Maryland. Vice President for Student Life Dr. Celestino Limas was in attendance and said that “[losing Nadia] was difficult for many reasons but in particular because it was her last semester.”
Nadia’s family asked Limas to speak at her funeral. He took this time to present Nadia’s degree, for which she had completed all credit requirements before her passing.
Limas said that more will be done to commemorate Nadia’s passing at graduation. Along with memorializing Nadia, plans are in place to recognize the other three students that have passed from the class of 2019, as well.
Nadia was a Vera Hackman Apartments Community Fellow, a member of NOIR and a 2015 Mosaic Scholar. Nadia was the vice president and an award-winning member of Elizabethtown College’s Mock Trial Team.
She was remembered by a fellow Mock Trial member, junior Abby Williams, as “one of the smartest people I have ever [met. Participating] in mock trial with her was such a good experience.”
Nadia is remembered by Associate Dean of Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Planning Dr. Kyle Kopko in an email as “an outstanding student [who] was passionate about civil and human rights, working to advance these causes in her studies and co-curricular activities.”
As a first-year, Nadia participated in the Civil Rights and Interfaith Service Trip to Atlanta, Ga. and Selma and Montgomery, Ala. During her sophomore year, Nadia studied at American University in Washington D.C. She also went to South Africa in May 2018. These experiences allowed her to explore her commitment to community service.
She made an impact on campus as well as in the lives of those she knew.
“She and I would always talk about our futures, whether it be small things like what we wanted to add to her bucket lists, or bigger things like the changes we wanted to fight for around the world,” senior Quinten Yonkers said. “I can easily say that I sincerely have not met someone with such strong ambitions, and such a passion for helping people and actively fighting for change, rather than just talking about it like many people do.”
Senior Anthony Carter remembered Nadia as “more than a best friend to me. She was like a sister. She was always there for me and others when times got difficult and I’ll miss all of the laughs that we shared.”
“Nadia had a commanding leadership skill that made her a great leader and she was always someone I could turn to and someone who would make me laugh,” Nadia’s junior Mock Trial teammate Kory Trout said.
Area Coordinator Dominick DiLoreto, who worked with Nadia when she was a Community Fellow, remembered Nadia as “top of the line… She was very inspirational in her activism and her love for everyone.”
A memorial for Nadia will be held in the near future and will include a service to commemorate her life and activism.
“While we mourn Nadia’s passing, we take comfort in the fact that her light continues to burn through her legacy of service,” Chair of the Political Science Department Dr. April Kelly-Woessner said.
“I think we all feel a responsibility to pick up the torch and carry on Nadia’s work in her memory.”
Nadia—you are so loved and so missed by all of us who were lucky enough to know you.
