An important tradition continues tonight, Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. to honor Morgan Harrington. It’s been more than a decade since her death but a scholarship fundraiser is continuing her passion for education.
“...That’s been our driving force, to honor Morgan’s legacy,” said Dr. Tracey Criss, a physician at Carilion Clinic and friend of the Harringtons.
The message is in the name, Docs for Morgan.
Since 2013, it’s been Carilion Clinic doctors vs. Virginia Tech Carilion medical students. They go head to head on a basketball court and it’s more than just for bragging rights, but to honor Morgan Harrington. She was studying to become a teacher at Virginia Tech before her disappearance and murder.
“We always say the summer she worked at the medical school and with me was our magical summer,” Dr. Dan Harrington, Morgan’s father said as he reflected.
The fundraising event started as a way for the doctors to do something special to support Morgan’s parents and the scholarship they started in her honor. This year is no different.
In its ninth year and during a pandemic, Dr. Criss said she and several others were committed to making Docs for Morgan happen.
“This is a time for those groups school, Carilion, and the community to come together to show really the goodness of people overcomes the evil of tragedy, “ said Criss.
So instead of dribbling a ball down a court, doctors and students are picking up a play station controller.
The Harringtons are grateful the event is able to still go on.
Morgan’s mother, Gil, told 10 News this scholarship is her family’s way of showing gratitude to what she calls a “tsunami” of love and support from the community.
“There’s also some astonishing circularity here that in response to our family’s injury, through the Morgan Dana Harrington Memorial Scholarship we are able to return healers to the community,” she said.
Nine healers to be exact and $400,000 over the years, according to Dr. Harrington. It’s all in their daughter’s name.
“Morgan had wanted to become a teacher. Even though she can never reach that goal she’s actually, through the scholarship, educated more people than she probably ever would when all of this is said and done,” Dr. Harrington said.
For the Harringtons, this isn’t just about remembering Morgan but bringing a little bit of her light back into the world.
“Our family was robbed of our precious daughter, but the community, the world at large was robbed of the great potential that she had and through efforts like Docs for Morgan we are able to actualize and realize some of the goodness she would have brought to the world, had she had made it through,” her mother Gil said.
Docs for Morgan: Virtual Hoops begins at 7 p.m. You have to register here to get the Zoom link to watch the virtual game.
A host will guide you through the game. There will also be live trivia questions and prizes about the medical school and the history of Docs for Morgan.
Watching the event is free, but you can donate to the scholarship fund when you register or click here.