no matter what the circumstances. We want to thank the countless
family members, friends and people from Indiana and across the country
who willingly helped and supported us while Wade was missing and
throughout our grieving process. We have been lifted up and not allowed
to fall, and for that we are humbly grateful. Taking responsibility is not assessing blame; it is having the capacity
to respond. That Purdue University is responding by settling our claim to
the full extent of the law and, in addition, funding the Wade Steffey Memorial
Scholarship for incoming Indiana resident freshmen, is deeply gratifying and
appropriate. We want to especially thank our lawyers, Scott Montross and Mike
Miller, for their generosity in donating their fee on the scholarship portion
of the settlement and for their extraordinary insight into our situation. And
thank you to Purdue University. The people of Purdue - police, students, faculty,
staff, administrators and alumni - have been universally kind and supportive.
This has been a difficult experience for all who were touched by Wade's death.
It is our hope that this settlement will encourage colleges and universities
across the country to scrutinize their physical facilities, update them, and make
them safer for our children. Dawn and I have resumed our lives as artists. Our family is continuing to investigate
how to be of the most service to others with a family foundation. We will continue
to offer scholarships to Bloomington high school students attending college. And
while we continue to miss Wade and always will, we see his face everywhere in the
faces of hopeful young people, and we hold him in our hearts.
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