Brother U of I murder victim awarded scholarship created in sibling’s honor

MOSCOW (Idaho Statesman) — Nearly a year after Ethan Chapin and three other University of Idaho students were killed in an attack near campus, his brother received an award created in his brother’s honor.

Hunter Chapin received the inaugural Ethan Chapin Memorial Scholarship from the Sigma Chi Foundation at Wednesday night’s Sigma Chi fraternity scholarship dinner. Both Ethan and Hunter were members of the fraternity.

The award is intended to go toward tuition and honors the Idaho Sigma Chi member “who best exemplifies Ethan’s character, his enthusiasm for life and his smile for everyone around him,” according to a fraternity news release.

The organization said the endowed scholarship will give $5,000 to an Idaho chapter member each year.

“I’m honored to be receiving the first Ethan Chapin Memorial Scholarship,” Hunter Chapin said in the release. “It makes me feel so happy to see that Sigma Chis around the world honor and care for the undergraduates.”

Chapin, 20, was a freshman when he was stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022. His girlfriend, Xana Kernodle, 20, and her roommates Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were also killed in the attack at the women’s off-campus home on King Road in Moscow. Bryan Kohberger, a graduate student at the nearby Washington State University at the time, has been charged with their murders and is awaiting trial.

Maizie Chapin, Ethan’s sister, helped present the award to her brother. The Chapin family was the fund’s largest donor — some of which came from Ethan’s checking account. The fund has since garnered $125,000 through donations. Sigma Chi said if the foundation receives additional funds, the $5,000 amount will increase for future recipients.

“It was breathtaking to see hundreds of people from across the hemisphere immediately step up to support the Ethan Chapin scholarship as a way to make a statement of goodness and love,” Jeff Burnside, Sigma Chi Foundation director of development for the Northwest region, said in the release.

At the dinner, fraternity members unveiled a plaque featuring Ethan Chapin’s name and face that will hang in the Moscow chapter house. The organization said it hopes the gestures will help future members remember their slain brother.

“Let all generations honor Ethan and strive to be like him,” the ending of the plaque states.

Those interested in donating can do so through the fraternity’s website.