Morgan’s Message is a student-led club for student athletes’ mental health. The club aims to help normalize talking about mental health and make it have equal importance to physical health.
There are five students who lead the club at State High, with sophomore Reagan Dare as president, junior Tegan White as vice president, senior Michael Powell as treasurer, senior Lila Franklin as secretary and junior Cora Bierly as events coordinator/planner.
“A lot of the times, athletes, you know, they’re supposed to be the strong kids. They’re not supposed to have mental health issues, but it’s quite literally the opposite. There’s so much stress and there’s so much, so many things that are running through your mind. And I think that it [Morgan’s Message] builds a place where people can come,” Dare said.
Morgan’s Message is an international organization that was formed after a young woman named Morgan Rogers died from suicide. She was a very selfless and vibrant person, and she played lacrosse for Duke. She suffered a serious injury in her sophomore year, and in the months that followed, she fell into depression and eventually took her own life. Morgan’s family and friends formed the organization to help student athletes improve their mental health, and it eventually grew its participation nationally and internationally.
The Morgan’s Message club is a place for athletes to feel included and seen.
“I think it builds a community, like, a sense of community…And if [student athletes] have any problems, they can talk about it and also know that they’re not alone, if they do struggle with their mental health,” Dare said.
The club educates their athletes in ways they can get help if they’re struggling, such as going to the Morgan’s Message website or talking to someone. The club also educates the members about the hotlines students can call.
“Just letting them know that they’re not alone. If they’re struggling mentally, that they have resources and options for people to help them,” White said.
Another aspect of Morgan’s Message is the logo, the teal butterfly with a semicolon as a body. Morgan Rogers was an artist, and the butterfly is based on her abstract art, with it being teal because that was Rogers’ favorite color. The semicolon represents solidarity and affirmation.
That logo can be seen during dedication games at State High. For some athletic events, Morgan’s Message reaches out to the coaches to see if they can dedicate that game to teach the athletes about these issues. The club gives out free gifts to the athletes that have the butterfly on them, such as bracelets. A merchandise stand is also there for anyone else at the game, where people can buy Morgan’s Message items, such as hats, stickers, bracelets, and t-shirts, with snacks also there for purchase.
“We just want to try to get people to come to our table so we can tell them what Morgan’s Message is,” Dare said.
If any student athletes are interested in joining Morgan’s Message or coming to one of the meetings, they can email Reagan Dare at [email protected], Tegan White at [email protected], or go to their Instagram page @morgansmessage_statehigh. The club meets monthly in the mornings at 7:45 in room B229, and their meetings generally consist of a snack at the beginning, some type of message, and an activity at the end.
Ultimately, the goal of Morgan’s Message is to eliminate all the negativity about mental health for athletes and give them a place to go and feel included.
“I feel like everyone deserves to have someone in their corner,” Dare said, “and not let what happened to Morgan happen to anyone else.”
