CHARITY SPOTLIGHT
Morgan’s Message:
Increase Mental Health Awareness among Student-Athletes By Gary E. Fendler | Photographs provided by Morgan’s Message
Rodgers; Meaghan Birnie; Clare Kehoe; Elise Koehl; Maddie Roberts and Kat Zempolich.
Some stories shouldn’t end. In the two-and-a-half years since Morgan Dupé Rodgers died by suicide in her college apartment in Durham, N.C., on a warm mid-July evening in 2019, the strength and support of friends and supporters throughout the greater Virginia community has been instrumental in sustaining the growth of a nonprofit organization, Morgan’s Message, whose goal is to increase awareness about the mental health challenges that affect studentathletes at the high school and collegiate levels. Morgan was a senior at Duke University and played on the D1 women’s lacrosse team. She sustained a career-ending knee injury in her sophomore year. One year after Morgan’s passing, her family, friends and former teammates gathered and decided to create Morgan’s Message. Co-founders include Dona F. Rodgers, Morgan’s mother; Morgan’s twin sister, Aberle
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“We launched an education program (Morgan’s Message Education Program) built around studentathlete ambassadors on high school and collegiate campuses,” said her mother, who is the co-founder and president of the Gainesville-based nonprofit. “Sharing stories in safe environments is critical to eliminating the stigma and normalizing the conversation about mental health issues. Morgan suffered in silence and she lost her battle. That must change.”
colleges and universities than in any other state – 30 at high schools and 19 at the collegiate level. High school ambassadors established chapters on campuses at numerous schools around the state, including Prince William and Fauquier counties. Rodgers expects even more counties will get involved, too. In Prince William, thriving high school chapters are established at Battlefield, Brentsville District, Charles J. Colgan, Patriot and Unity Reed. “We don’t recruit ambassadors,” Rodgers said. “Our ambassadors self-identify and volunteer by visiting our website and applying. We can be found at morgansmessage.org.”
Fifteen months after “signing” its first campus ambassador, Morgan’s Message now has 505 ambassadors on 265 high school and collegiate campuses in 32 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. And, it grows each week.
Rodgers said this rapid growth reflects two realities: 1) mental health challenges among student-athletes is a larger issue than commonly acknowledged and 2) using peer-to-peer conversations as a way to connect with students and encourage them to speak freely is a successful approach.
Unsurprisingly, Morgan’s Message has student-athlete ambassadors on more Virginia high schools and
“Morgan’s Message was built by and for studentathletes,” Rodgers explained. “Peer-to-peer contact puts
NEIGHBORS OF LAKE MANASSAS
