MOSCOW, Idaho — After 18 months of work, the Vandals Healing Garden and Memorial is complete and open to the public.
The Vandals Healing Garden and Memorial was created by and for Vandals, and the entire Moscow community came together Wednesday night to dedicate and open it.
While the Vandal Memorial grew out of the tragedy of November 2022, the murders of four students, it's now a place to remember any Vandal who has passed away.
The community raised more than $385,000 to see this idea come to life. It was a process that Drew Giacomazzi, friend and fraternity brother of Ethan Chapin, knew he had to be part of.
"He was just so welcoming and including of everybody, there's very few people like him," Giacomazzi said.
Giacomazzi joined the Garden Planning Committee with his friends' inclusive spirit in mind: to create a place that's open to all.
"The healing garden is not an exclusive place," Giacomazzi said. "The feedback also didn't want to be exclusive to just the committee, we wanted everybody to have a say in the elements so it can be a community space."
Also involved in that planning were the families of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Visitors are invited to leave a message for a lost loved one or just sit and reflect, something now U of I grad Giacomazzi said he plans to do as often as he can.
"Every time I come back to campus I'm just going to walk through and remember," Giacomazzi said.
You can watch the full ceremony at the link below.