‘Reflect and connect’: Students design memorial for University of Idaho stabbing victims
Moscow community members mourning the loss of four University of Idaho students who were killed more than a year ago soon could have a place to go for remembrance.
The school is moving forward with its plans to create a student-designed Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial to honor the students who were killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, as well as any others who died while at U of I.
School leaders came up with the concept after the community was shaken by the fatal stabbing of seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.
“The Healing Garden is a place for Vandals to reflect and connect,” Jodi Walker, university spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman in an email. “It is the sad reality that students die every year, and having a place where our community can go to remember them is incredibly important. Having this space designed by students adds to the depth of healing and community.”
The design team, which comprises architecture and landscape students, recently completed two potential plans, according to a university news release. The plans included input from school and city representatives, as well as some families of former students.
“Team members were not only able to internalize the importance of the memorial for those families but also discovered more about the students themselves, which they hope to show in their designs,” David Jackson, U of I communications manager, said in the release.
Walker said she did not know whether the families of King Road victims took part, and the release did not specify.
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Both designs focused on creating an “interactive space” that can accommodate groups and those seeking “individual reflection,” according to Jackson. It will include a visual reminder of the four victims.
Leaders are considering placing the memorial in a section of MacLean Field, the school’s former outdoor athletic stadium, “because of its large size and central location on campus,” the university said. The field sits between the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences building, the physical education building and the Shattuck Arboretum.
The teams plan to work on the designs through the spring semester before choosing one to submit to the university for approval this summer.
The university is raising money to fund the memorial through its website.
Bryan Kohberger, 29, a Pennsylvania native who was studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, was arrested in December 2023 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the 2022 homicides. He has been in the Latah County Jail in Moscow since he was flown from Pennsylvania.
Walker said no plans have been made yet for the property where the students were killed. The six-bedroom house on the site was demolished in December.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 3:00 AM with the headline "‘Reflect and connect’: Students design memorial for University of Idaho stabbing victims."
