Morgan’s Message breaks mental health stigma for athletes

Morgan’s Message, a national initiative to help student athletes with their mental health, has recently been introduced to Lehigh’s campus. 

Morgan’s Message is a nonprofit organization started by the Rodgers family that provides resources to ensure athletes’ mental health receives the same level of attention as their physical health. 

According to the organization’s website, Morgan Rodgers was a lacrosse player at Duke University who died by suicide in 2019 following a knee injury. Her injury abruptly took her off the field, leading to surgery and intensive rehabilitation, which caused her to struggle with her mental health. 

Sophia Lally, ‘28, a member of the Lehigh women’s rowing team, was a member of her high school’s Morgan’s Message club. 

She said she believed Lehigh athletes would benefit from an organization that combats the negative stigma surrounding mental health, so she decided to implement the program at the university. Lehigh is now one of 1,810 schools in the United States to operate a Morgan’s Message program. 

Lally said she established the club at Lehigh by pitching the idea to members of the athletics department and Counseling and Psychological Services. She then reached out to friends who took part in the program at other schools to start putting together events and resources. 

Rylie Moschella, ‘27, a member of the women’s soccer team, worked with Lally to bring the movement to Lehigh. Moschella said there was a Morgan’s Message club at her high school, and it grew to be one of her school’s most popular organizations. 

Lally and Moschella said their previous successful experiences with the organization inspired them to become Morgan’s Message ambassadors, which are current high school or college students at any sports level who want to spread the message of the initiative at their school. 

Moschella said in order to be an ambassador, students must apply on the organization’s website and be able to work a certain amount of hours each month to grow the movement in their community, as well as attend meetings with other ambassadors. After she and the other participants were accepted to become ambassadors, the club was established.

Lally said the data illustrating the number of athletes with mental health gave her a significant reason to carry out her Morgan’s Message mission. 

According to the nonprofit Athletes for Hope, one third of collegiate athletes experience symptoms of anxiety and depression, but only 10% reported feeling comfortable reaching out for help. Additionally, the British Journal for Sports Medicine reported 128 college athletes have died by suicide between 2002 and 2022. 

“There’s this idea that athletes have to be tough and that mental struggles are a sign of weakness,” Lally said. “But we’re working to flip that narrative.”

While there are already resources on campus to support athletes’ mental health, such as counseling services, Lally said it’s important to ensure athletes feel comfortable seeking help. 

“The main goal is to make sure athletes know that it’s okay and, honestly, necessary to ask for help and that there are people who get what they’re going through,” she said.

Moschella collaborated with FLIGHT45, a group on campus that develops leadership in Lehigh Athletics, to organize the club’s first meeting, which was held in late February. The purpose of the meeting was to explain the initiative to attendees and introduce the support and resources that would be provided to athletes who joined. 

Grace Martel, ‘27, a women’s lacrosse player, attended the meeting. 

She said she’s heard about Morgan’s Message in the past and wanted to learn more about the program, as she believes mental health is just as important as physical health.

Being a student athlete herself, Martel said she can relate to the toll it can take on one’s physical and mental health. To help others balance the responsibilities that come with being a student athlete, she said she felt it was important to get involved with something that can serve as a support system.

She also said she feels connected to Rodgers.

“I feel as though we came from similar backgrounds, both attending rigorous academic schools and being lacrosse players,” Martel said. “Morgan was a regular girl, and no one knew the struggles she was going through. It makes me wonder if those around me are going through anything similar.”

Lally said she’s dedicated to growing Morgan’s Message, both in the number of student athletes involved and in its approach to mental health.

 “My main goal, though, is always going to be making mental health normal,” Lally said. “We all have it, but in the athletic community, there is such a stigma.”