In Memoriam: Honoring Marilyn Horace-Moore
In April 2020, the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology lost a beloved colleague. Marilyn Horace-Moore was a longtime lecturer, teaching several criminology and criminal justice classes, and was a mentor to many students. She was also a friend. We, as a department, spent the summer months grieving this loss. As the new school year begins, we want to honor Marilyn for all that she accomplished and for all that she means to us. Unfortunately, COVID-19 prevents us from celebrating her life and career in person. Until such an event is possible, we are in the process of developing a scholarship in her name, are hosting an online fundraiser to support this scholarship, and offer this page as a tribute to our friend.
I will miss hearing Marilyn make her way down SAC's hallway to her office, stopping to say hello and ask about her "girl" (my daughter Rachelle). Marilyn's strength was admirable. She never shied away from saying how it is. Her love of her students was evident through the no-nonsense approach she showed them at EMU as well as the multitude of positive relations she maintained throughout the years after they graduated. Marilyn was a jewel who shined both personally and professionally.
~Dr. Kristine Ajrouch
When my daughter was 3, she would come to campus with me before class started, and Marilyn was always so happy to see her. Since then, every time I saw Marilyn in the Pray-Harrold elevator or SAC office, she asked about my daughter—every time for the next 6 years. I'll never forget how Marilyn remembered not only my daughter, but the fact that we had comradery as mothers. She is greatly missed.
~Sarah Deward
Marilyn Horace-Moore was more than an inspiring central figure in SAC department. She was a guiding compass. Her strength, resilience, wisdom, and compassion will forever be remembered by all in our community whose personal and professional lives she enriched with every encounter. As in life's interactions with Marilyn, her memory makes our lives more purposeful and enjoyable.
~Dr. Bradley Ensor
Marilyn made a workplace feel like family. She is always interested in our lives, families, and well-being. I miss you. We miss you.
~Dr. Xianghong Feng
Marilyn was very nice and kind to me. When I passed the door of her office on the way to my office, she always looked at me and said Hi. Whenever I asked questions regarding student advising, she helped me out a lot. I'm really sad we lost her.
~Dr. Young Kim
Marilyn meant THE WORLD to me. She had a great impact on my life, and will be missed beyond measure.
~Fonda Martin
I will miss Marilyn's warmth. She made meaningful connections with so many of us—asking about our families and lives outside of work because she was genuinely interested. I will miss hearing her say "How's that baby?" whenever she passed my office door. I will miss our conversations about motherhood, the wisdoms she shared, and her reassurances that my kid would be okay. I'll miss the way she would not suffer a fool. Her authenticity. I always told her that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. I still hope to be.
~Dr. Tricia McTague
Marilyn was an instrumental instructor and mentor in the SAC Department. I learned of her through admiring and appreciative comments from peers while an undergrad at EMU in the early 00s. Over a decade later, when working in the community, I ran into her at the Ann Arbor Housing Commission helping to mediate cases there as well as becoming a fellow lecturer at EMU. I could always count on her warm greetings, amazing hugs, and great conversations either in the hallways or classrooms around campus to brighten my day, deepen my wisdom, and commitment to justice in the world.
~Heather Mooney
Marilyn was a fierce MAMA BEAR who looked out for all of us. She kept tabs on everyone's family, remembering names and details. She made you feel loved, and noticed when you needed it most. I feel lost not having her here, but her spirit and memory will live on in our hearts.
~Dr. Megan Moore
I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to know and work with Marilyn. I appreciated her guidance and support and the way that she offered both with good-natured humor and an earnest desire to make things better. Marilyn had a way of shutting out the noise to focus on student success. She was an indefatigable ally and an advocate for our students. She set a wonderful example for the rest of us.
~Dr. Julian Murchison
Marilyn was a beloved member of the SAC Department and wider EMU community. She always greeted colleagues with a big smile and was unfailing in her concern for our well-being and that of our families. She garnered enormous professional respect from those same colleagues and proved to be an essential source of support and guidance for countless students whom she taught and advised over the years.
~Dr. Robert Orrange
Marilyn was a woman of high integrity, grit, loyalty, wisdom, and love, especially tough love. This quote by Tony Gaskins summarizes her greatest lesson: "You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce." She modeled those words. When my daughter died, Marilyn picked me up and carried me. I likely would have retired and retreated had it not been for her insistence that I get myself together and get on with my life, to take the love I had for my daughter, and give it to my students. In that way, my daughter has lived on, and I will always love Marilyn for that gift. She could consistently care for and love others better than anyone I have ever met. She is greatly missed.
~Dr. Denise Reiling
In our hearts, your memory lingers
And keeps you ever near us
Your smiling and pleasant way
Is a pleasure to recall.
A wonderful mother, friend, and teacher,
Who was honest, just, and strong.
Always encouraging, supportive, and full of good humor;
Who kindly helped so many.
You will never be forgotten!
~Dr. Brian Sellers
Marilyn Horace-Moore was a very strong woman. A trailblazer, a pioneer as a policewoman. I was very impressed by hearing her stories about joining a male-dominated police force. She was also strong in her commitment to our students, encouraging them to aim higher and helping them to get there. As a graduate coordinator, I was told by many minority students how they decided to apply to our graduate program when they found in her the encouragement and guidance to pursue a graduate degree. The students told me how she changed their lives, and I profoundly admire that.
~Dr. Solange Simoes
Marilyn Horace-Moore was a universally loved and respected professor and advisor to the Criminology students in the SAC Department, often called simply "Mom" by her many fans. Great numbers of students were helped and inspired by her warm and practical advice.
~Dr. Ron Westrum
What I admired about Marilyn: the tough that she showed her students and sometimes the rest of us, her sincere and regular inquiries after the well-being of our families, and those selfless and always ready hugs for anyone who needed them. That is what I admired about her. We will miss you, Marilyn.
~Ben Wilcox