The parents of WSU student Matthew Gray are leading a campaign to increase window safety for Pullman campus residence halls.

Matthew Gray, 18, fell out of his Community-Duncan Dunn residence hall window on August 24. He suffered head injuries and is currently at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit, spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

Jim and Andrea Gray, Matthew’s parents, have launched an email campaign for concerned individuals to write letters expressing their support for increased window safety at WSU.

“I’d like to get something in place where I know they’ll get something done with the windows at WSU as soon as possible,” Jim Gray said. “Then, I’d like to be able to go back to taking care of my kid.”

Gray said that the initial support from the WSU community was very helpful in the days immediately after the accident. A petition for increased window protection on campus received nearly 12,000 signatures in response to the fall. A GoFundMe set up to support medical costs has raised $57,356 as of 12:45 p.m. Wednesday.

However, people started to make controversial statements on his posts in the “WSU Parents Chat Café” page, leading to the posts being taken down, Gray said. There has been support from various areas, including other communities the Grays are involved in.

Jim Gray expressed his frustration with the university’s delay in reaching out to their family after the accident. The first communication between the two occurred during a short phone call in the hospital near the end of the second day after Matthew was in the ER, Jim Gray said.

WSU President Kirk Schulz announced Tuesday in a letter that a university team had reviewed window safety in residence halls.

The letter, titled “Safety of Cougar family remains a top priority,” states that a team of representatives from multiple departments, including Housing, Facilities Services and Risk Management, produced a preliminary report of their findings.

The findings include that all 17 residence halls have operable windows, designed to open so students can escape or be rescued in emergency situations.

The team explored current devices, intended for children, which could prevent falls, although they were concerned this could impede fire safety if they were implemented before research and further consideration.

The next step, the letter states, is to have an independent safety consultant evaluate fall risks across campus and provide recommendations on each risk. WSU is seeking specific recommendations for each type of safety risk due to the different building types around campus.

The letter also states the university will begin an information campaign to increase student awareness of fall and other safety risks, to be developed and carried out by the Division of Student Affairs.

Jim Gray thought there was some issues with the statement.

“I don’t like the fact that it’s very general and has nothing in it to hold them accountable,” Gray said. “I would like to see regular or weekly updates or something on how it’s going.”

Gray also wants the university to provide complete transparency throughout the process, as well as calling for the report to be available to the public as soon as it is completed. He is also concerned with the method the university is taking, as he said it may take up to a year for any construction on safety features to start.

Gray would also like to see more information available to parents before their children begin their careers at WSU. This includes the university stating on housing forms and informing students and parents before a student signs a housing contract if the dorm in question has safe windows.

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about if their kids are going to fall out of a window,” Gray said.