Best of CASE District III Award
 

Institution: James Madison University

Title of entry: Morgan's Message

About this entry: We initially pursued a story for the Spring/Summer 2022 issue of Madison about an alumni couple, Kurt ('89) and Dona ('88) Rodgers, who, following their daughter Morgan's suicide in 2019, launched a nonprofit to help student-athletes overcome the stigma of taking a timeout for their mental health. At the same time, we worked with our Creative Media team to develop a feature-length video containing interviews with the couple, including their recollections of the events leading up to that tragic day and the subsequent work of their nonprofit, Morgan's Message, The story and accompanying video were published on jmu.edu in May. In June, a link to the online feature was included in an email from the Office of the President to students with a message of support and a list of mental health resources at JMU.