UI students and faculty create Vandal Healing Garden to honor murder victims

MOSCOW — The murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 may have been the catalyst for a new memorial on the UI campus, but the space is meant for anyone looking to process grief or find a moment of peace.

On Tuesday, 14 UI architecture students and faculty endured the hot sun to build some of the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial that they also designed. It is located next to the UI Physical Education Building.

One of those students, Korbyn Averett, said the project should be complete in about three weeks. Many of the structures are now partially complete and more than 500 plants have been planted along the walkway.

“This was our way of kind of helping the community to heal from this experience,” Averett said.

On Nov. 13, 2022, UI students Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle were killed in their off-campus home in Moscow.

The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial was designed with input from the victims’ parents, as well as from the Moscow community and UI students. It is being completed with the help of donations from the public.

The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial will feature a sculpture designed to honor those four victims. Scott Lawrence, associate professor of architecture, said the sculpture will contain a series of elements that capture and bounce light.

The larger space is meant to serve all of those who are grieving the loss of a Vandal, as well as those who just want a place to get away.

“It’s for all the Vandals that don’t get to see their graduation through,” Averett said. “Or even, heck, you’re having a bad day, maybe something’s going on back home where your family is. You can come here and kind of have this hopeful place to just kind of relax and take that off.”

Another feature of the memorial is meant for those who want to write messages to their deceased loved ones. Multiple wooden structures have been built so a person can write a letter, place it in a tube and set it on what looks like a candle holder. Architecture student Ashley Summers said these structures will be a place people can sit and take a moment for reflection.

The garden is filled with a variety of plants, including native plants, that bloom at different times of the year. Averett said this ensures the garden looks beautiful throughout all the seasons. He said the students spoke to the parents of the murder victims to get their preferences on what kind of plants they want to see blooming in the garden.

Summers said that people are looking “for places of safety,” and she hopes the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial can provide that.

“I hope that it’s just a place that they can get away from classes and from life for a little bit and just kind of think about things that they can’t think about elsewhere or don’t feel safe thinking about elsewhere,” she said.

Summers and Lawrence said it was also designed for the physical education staff and faculty to hold outdoor wellness classes like yoga sessions.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.