WSU letter to students on U of I murders took a while, but it’s worth a read | Opinion

Washington State University officials were rightly concerned when news hit last week that a WSU graduate student is the lone suspect in the November killing of four University of Idaho students.

In a smart, proactive move, Elizabeth S. Chilton, WSU Pullman’s chancellor provost and executive vice president, wrote a lengthy letter to students just as they returned from their holiday break.

It’s worth a read and can be found on the college’s Facebook site.

Chilton provides students with information so they can get emotional support during this difficult time. She also encourages “everyone to cooperate with the investigative process as much as they are able,” and she provides a link and phone number to the Moscow Police Department.

This is a much better response than when the slayings first happened, and WSU’s response was muted. Now, at least, students have a list of resources to help them deal with any struggles brought on by this heartbreaking crime.

In addition to offering emotional guidance, Chilton also suggests how students should handle the press: “If you are being contacted by a member of the media, you always have a choice to speak with them or not. If you are receiving unwanted contact from the press, you may direct their inquiries to Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications.”

The letter goes on to help students learn steps to protect their privacy and change their WSU email address.

This is a high-profile murder case that has caught attention nationwide, and it’s wise to prepare students for extra media interest on their campuses.

But we would add that the vast majority of established journalists know how to be professional and compassionate as they do their jobs.

It’s important to get accurate information out to the public. The social media whirlwind surrounding this tragedy led to all kinds of false and harmful gossip early on because police were too tight-lipped about the case. In the beginning, information was released too slowly and in a disjointed manner, which led to rumors spread online.

When people don’t get answers, it’s not unusual for them to make assumptions and fill in the holes themselves. Before you know it, misleading and incorrect information is pushed as truth, which ends up muddying the investigation and causing more pain for the victims’ families.

Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death by Moscow police on Nov. 13. We are so sorry for their families’ loss and for the ordeal they are enduring.

Police said the students were likely killed while sleeping in different bedrooms in their off-campus apartment. As anxiety and frustration over the case continued for weeks on end, it seemed like police were getting nowhere.

Then, on Dec. 30, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of murder in connection with the brutal slayings.

In a news release, WSU officials confirmed that Kohberger completed his first semester as a PhD student in the school’s criminal justice program. It also said that the WSU Police Department assisted Idaho law enforcement officials with search warrants at Kohberger’s apartment and office, which are both on the WSU Pullman campus.

The report came as a shock throughout the country, but especially at WSU.

When the Moscow slayings were first reported, the Spokesman-Review said that many WSU students were frustrated their school’s administrators did not publicly acknowledged how the crime affected their students.

We wrote that since Pullman, WA is only 10 miles from the U of I campus, WSU officials needed to step up and do more to help its students process this grisly crime.

WSU officials were right to finally reach out — in a very public way — to faculty, staff and students as soon as this semester started.