L-C students grieve in concert with UI
Dec. 1—Emerging from the dark, they arrived in pairs and small groups.
With cupped hands protecting delicate flames against a cold November breeze, they silently touched candle to candle until each flickered to life.
Mostly students, and mostly young women, the crowd of about 50 formed a circle Wednesday evening in front of the Lewis Clark State Student Union Building at Lewiston and bowed their heads as they remembered Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. The four University of Idaho students were murdered in Moscow three weeks ago Nov. 13.
In prepared remarks, Adam Ashford, a senior from Lewiston and president of the LCSC psychology club, said the candles symbolized the lives "extinguished before they could share their light with the world," and the desire for justice felt by so many people across Idaho, Washington and beyond.
This was one of several such events held in solidarity with a candlelight vigil that took place at the UI Moscow campus at the same time. Others were organized at other UI campuses around the state, and at Boise State University, the College of Eastern Idaho at Idaho Falls, the University of Idaho McCall Field Campus, the central Idaho resort town of Ketchum and Seattle, the region's largest city. In addition, several public school districts throughout Idaho, including those at Lewiston and Lapwai, turned their athletic field lights on as a show of support.
"It didn't just affect the Moscow community, it affected all of the communities around it," said Carley Castanon, an LCSC student from Rosalia, Washington.
Her friend Jillian Stevens, an LCSC student from Priest River, Idaho, said it's easy to empathize with the victims and their families. Like so many students, they were young, vibrant and just starting their journeys as adults.
"It's just heartbreaking and it's really scary knowing that can just happen at any time," she said. "They were all really incredibly young. It's just really sad to know a fellow student had to go through what they had to go through."
It can be frightening for parents as well. Bonita and Kevin Hafer, of Lewiston, have twin daughters. One attends LCSC and the other the University of Idaho.
"That could have been her," Bonita Hafer said of her daughter at UI.
"We think about it because she is exactly the same age as (the victims). She didn't know any of them directly but knows people who knew them," she said.
Neither of the parents said they are "worriers," but they've talked to their daughter about being vigilant and aware, and to expect more contact from them.
"I told her, 'you are going to have to be patient because I'm going to check in more often with you,' and I do," Bonita Hafer said.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
