Brendan Murphy ‘23 (Journalism)
RAMSEY N.J. – Brendan Murphy and other students at Don Bosco Prep look to end some of the stigma around mental health with the creation of their club “Morgan’s Message.” Murphy and the rest of the club believe this is greatly needed as mental health issues continue to make waves across sports.
The DBP Morgan’s Message club is a chapter of a national organization, with schools participating across the country raising awareness of the mental health struggles in athletes. The club was inspired and created in memory of Morgan Rodgers, a lacrosse player at Duke University who died by suicide in the summer of 2019.
Unfortunately, Rodgers is not alone. Just within the last year, the sports world has been deeply affected by the loss of athletes like Katie Mayer (Stanford Women’s Soccer), Sarah Shulze (Wisconsin Women’s Track and Field) and many more who have lost their battle with mental health.
Murphy began his chapter of Morgan’s Message at Don Bosco Prep in the fall of 2022. Being an all-male school with highly competitive athletics, the members of Morgan’s Message believe student-athletes’ mental health is often put on the back burner. According to the blog Inside Tracker, male athletes are less likely to report depressive symptoms than female athletes.
The sad reality of the fact is that men are greatly affected by this epidemic of mental health problems, and it is often ignored. Suicide is four times more likely in men as they accounted for more than 70% of suicide deaths in 2020 according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Murphy and the other members of the club have the goal to not only spread awareness of this mental health crisis, but to create a safe space on campus for people to express themselves.
One of the major goals of this club is to create a 3-on-3 basketball tournament with all profits going towards the Morgan’s Message organization and their research regarding student-athlete mental health.
With inspiration from the recent speakers from the JCK Foundation, the group looks to bring in a speaker on behalf of the club. Club Vice-President Drew Chanfrau hopes to invite an athlete that may have struggled with mental health in the past to talk to some of the athletic teams.
Don Bosco Prep’s Morgan’s Message chapter will begin meeting twice a month starting in October, continuing to spread awareness of mental health and the stigma behind it. Club President Murphy and the members of Morgan’s Message believe this club is a much needed new addition to the Don Bosco campus. The goal of this club is to create a safe space for all student-athletes while continuing to brainstorm ways to spread the story of Morgan Rodgers and her message.