A year after University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves were senselessly murdered, NonStop Local KHQ continues to tell the stories of the families and Moscow community. We’re also following the legal proceedings for the man suspected of killing them. You can find our full special, Idaho Murders: One Year Later, by clicking here.
MOSCOW, Idaho — “It’s about moving forward, but not moving past,” University of Idaho Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said sitting outside the Student Union Building. “Last year was a stark reminder that crime can happen everywhere.”
Reminders of what happened still pop up on campus every now and then. Even as Mr. Eckles was talking with us, across the way, for the first time in many months, there was activity at the long-boarded up King Road house where the murders of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen took place.
With the trial delayed, the FBI was back at the house collecting evidence.
However, as Eckles put it, the mindset of the students and the university is one of moving forward, but not moving past. Not forgetting what happened, or more importantly, the students whose lives were cut short.
For the past year, the University of Idaho has displayed the very definition of healing.
“The Vandal family values have been really reinforced,” Eckles noted. “Looking out for one another, caring for one another. Those have been lasting legacies from how we all came together from last fall.”
Through support near and far, Eckles has watched his students and staff — his Vandal community — persevere through the unimaginable.
“I’ve heard from people from all over the world over the last year,” Eckles said. “That outpouring of support just means the world to us… We have alumni checking in saying, ‘Vandal Strong. We’ve got your back. Let us know how we can help.”
Even in the face of international attention of such a tragedy, Eckles said it’s a Vandal community that continues to grow, which he attributes to the foundation the university is built upon.
“Last year we had our largest first year class and this year we had our second largest,” Eckles said. “I think how we responded last year reinforced the importance of what we place as far as the value of our students’ safety, care and concern. I think that is a message that has resonated as well.”
Emerging from a tragedy hasn’t been easy and it’s a process that isn’t anywhere near over, but Eckles said the university has been doing everything they can to create protect a safe learning environment through practical things like increasing security, but ultimately the culture of healing has been cultivated by the Vandals themselves.
“I think some students still struggle with it for sure. What happened last year shook everyone to our core without a doubt. It was a scary time on campus” Eckles recalled. “It’s a constant reminder that while we can hire security officers and we have a great working relationship with Moscow PD, it’s incumbent upon all of us to do our part and create a safe experience for each other.”
The university has also been offering students not only chances to learn, but to cope through counseling and classes. The services have always been there, but Eckles said students are really utilizing them and showing up for educational programs.
To some, the changing colors and falling leaves can signal the end of a once vibrant season, but as the students at the University of Idaho shuffle off to class among the falling foliage nearly one year after the murders of four of their own, they do so knowing, perhaps better than some, that it’s really just the beginning in the cycle of healing.
“They have an absolute love for this institution. An absolute love for their experience and an absolute love for the four Vandals we lost,” Eckles concluded.
The University of Idaho is working with students to develop and build a “Healing Garden Memorial”, which will be a place for students to unpack their grief for any family member or friend they have lost and, of course, there will be a special place in that garden for Madison, Xana, Ethan, and Kaylee.
