Following the killings of Nov. 13, 2022, that took the lives of four University of Idaho students, the campus community “felt dark, cold and distant from one another,” Drew Giacomazzi said.
Giacomazzi was a student and member of the Sigma Chi fraternity at the time. He joined a committee tasked with overseeing a memorial to honor the lives of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen.
On Wednesday, he took part in a dedication ceremony officially opening the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial.
The memorial is meant to “unite the Vandal family and Moscow community and remind each of us of the love that we’re capable of giving and receiving,” Giacomazzi told the crowd of hundreds who gathered at the ceremony.
“Do more of what you love to honor Kaylee,” he said. “Spread that love with random acts of kindness for Maddie. Be silly, do something spontaneous and fun to honor Xana and tell stories with an abundance of laughter to live life like Ethan.”
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial was built by students from the College of Art and Architecture with the help of $285,000 in donations. It was designed with input from the victims’ parents, as well as from the Moscow community and UI students. The parents of the victims were present during Wednesday’s ceremony.
UI Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said it is meant to not just honor the four victims from November 2022, but all Vandal students who have died. Eckles said that 37 Vandals have died since he started as dean of students in 2015.
“It’s about coming together in moments of grief and reflection to share the burden of sorrow that we all experience,” he said about the memorial. “And about taking time to reflect on those we have lost and communicate with them in meaningful ways.”
A moment of silence was held during the ceremony to honor the deceased.
The memorial is interactive in its design. People are encouraged to write notes to their loved ones or messages of reflection, then place them in candle holders on a large wooden structure. These messages will be archived by the UI Library, UI College of Art and Architecture Dean Shauna Corry said.
It also features a sculpture designed specifically to honor Mogen, Goncalves, Chapin and Kernodle. On a hill overlooking the memorial, a steel beacon of light was built to shine at night.
UI President Scott Green said it is meant to honor the “four shining lights” that the UI lost in November 2022.
“It’s a reminder that even in moments of sadness and darkness, we can always find light,” he said.
Kaitlyn Widmyer praised the memorial’s purpose. She has a personal connection to the memorial because she was once a co-worker and friend with Mogen. She hired Mogen to work at Coeur d’Alene clothing boutique Marmalade Fresh Clothing, and hired her to be part of a fashion production company that Widmyer started called Coeur d’Alene Fashion Week.
Widmyer, who is also the current Miss Idaho USA, praised her former employee and friend.
“Maddie was just one of the most hard-working, dedicated young women that I ever met,” she said.
Widmyer said she appreciated the use of wood in the memorial that gave it a “touch of nature.”
“It feels so Idaho,” she said.
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial is located next to the UI Physical Education Building.
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