‘Vandal Strong’: Students honor victims

After Sarah Greenwalt and Reef Diego heard the news of the murders of four fellow University of Idaho students, they wanted to find a way to honor the lives lost.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were murdered at their Moscow residence Nov. 13. Greenwalt and Diego, Moscow High School grads and current students at UI, came together to design a sticker with each of the deceased student’s names and the words “Vandal Strong.”

“It made me realize it’s a good way to help the community help our students and kind of honor those students,” Greenwalt said.

While neither Diego nor Greenwalt knew the victims, they wanted to honor their memory and decided a sticker was a good place to start. They designed the sticker themselves and got help from Allegra Image 360 with printing 3,000 copies. The stickers will be handed out during a candlelight vigil scheduled at 5 p.m. today at the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center on the UI campus in Moscow. Any leftover stickers will be distributed throughout campus, Greenwalt said.

“Our deepest condolences and sympathies to the families and the friends who knew Ethan, Kaylee, Xana and Madison,” Diego said. “We’re feeling for them, and the community, too.”

The vigil will be held simultaneously at 5 p.m. PST across the University of Idaho’s Moscow, Boise and Idaho Falls campuses as well as in Coeur d’Alene and McCall. Those who cannot make the vigil in person are encouraged to light a candle or hold a moment of silence during that time.

More information about the vigil is available at uidaho.edu/remember.