The Remarkable Student-Athletes of Morehouse & Colgate: Rory Brookhart
Introduction
Archer’s Raiders is an organization that seeks to unify politically progressive fans, students, and alumni of Colgate University & Morehouse College through the passionate support of our sports programs. The namesake of this organization is Samuel “Big Boy” Archer Sr., one of the first Black football players to play for Colgate University and Morehouse College’s 5th President.
What follows this introduction is the eleventh of many interviews I plan to host that are designed to showcase the nuance and intellect of current and former Colgate and Morehouse student-athletes. People often have the misconception that athletes are one dimensional; lacking the range to speak on different important issues facing the country today. But the fact is that pro and college level athletes are often intimately connected to their communities and the challenges facing them. These athletes have a unique platform to speak on these challenges and raise awareness about a host of important political issues.
Through these interviews and profiles, you will find that Colgate and Morehouse student athletes all have remarkable stories — and that each of them represents the values that our schools stand for in their own unique ways. Hopefully, the Colgate and Morehouse communities enjoy reading the profiles and watching the interviews as much as I enjoy putting them together.
Rory Brookhart
In February of 2022, a paper was published in Frontiers in Public Health, an online open-access academic journal, that uncovered the pernicious effects lockdowns and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic had on the mental health of teenagers. The paper, titled “Digital Media Use and Adolescents’ Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic”, revealed the following: 1) social media use among teens increased astronomically during the pandemic, with some participants reporting that they spent as many as 10 hours a day on Instagram, Tik-Tok, and Snapchat, and 2) “passive and compensatory social media use led to increased ill-being, including feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem.”
And so, along with the massive number of people killed and irrevocably damaged as a result of COVID-19, it is clear that the pandemic also had serious negative effects on the mental health of the global population, especially teenagers. Educators and parents back up the findings of peer-reviewed research with substantial anecdotal evidence — in January of 2023, for example, The Hill ran an article called “Parents worry about growing post-pandemic youth mental-health crisis” in which school social workers reported that students are “struggling with social interactions and processing emotions.”
In light of the overwhelming data showing the profound impact the pandemic had on American youths, one would be hard pressed to find a teenager who was unaffected by the lockdowns and their resulting consequences. Indeed, such a person would probably need to eschew social media completely for months on end — an especially tall task since social media was one of the few ways people could interact with one another during the lockdowns. They would also need to possess an exceptional level of emotional maturity, self-awareness, and self-discipline — traits that are difficult to come by in adults, let alone high-school-aged children. The underlying numbers support these assertions — a paper in the National Library of Medicine called “Teens’ Social Media Engagement During the Covid-19 Pandemic…” shows that half of children between the ages of 13–17 were on social media constantly during the pandemic, and 97% of them used at least one type of social media.
As the saying goes, the stats don’t lie — most kids used social media during the pandemic, and social media negatively affected their mental health. But, with every statistic there’s an outlier; and for every rule there’s an exception. And, during the darkest days of the pandemic, one such exception was Colgate University freshman soccer player, Rory Matthew Brookhart.
Rory was born in Silver Spring, MD to Matthew and Joey Brookhart on October 5, 2004. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Monterrey, CA, where they spent the next 5 years. Midway through Rory’s kindergarten year, the family returned to Maryland; but this time they settled in Potomac, where they live to this day. Most kids raised in Potomac enjoy a privileged childhood, and Rory was no different. Potomac is a wealthy city with a phenomenal public-school system and opportunities abound. But, more than the privileges afforded to him via location, Rory is, perhaps, most fortunate to be born into a caring, loving family that have instilled in him values that have facilitated his high-level of achievement as a student, his excellence as an athlete, and his strength of character as a person.
Matthew, Rory’s father, is a Regional Director with National Marine Sanctuaries — a role which sees him institute new wildlife reserves and maintain existing ones in the Northeast Region; while Rory’s mother, Joey, works in sales with Recreational Equipment, Inc. Both Matthew and Joey are exceptionally well educated — Matthew has a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Seattle University along with 2 Master’s Degrees: one from the University of Oregon, the other from Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Joey studied at Oregon State, and, after graduating with her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Anthropology, she received her Masters from Middlebury, where she met Matthew in the university’s International Environmental Policy program. By all accounts, Matthew and Joey are a match made in heaven — they’re both intellectually brilliant, possess great communication skills, and are empathetic and altruistic people. Socially, they dovetail one another nicely as well — Joey is genial and outgoing, while Matthew is measured and reserved.
Rory is well aware of the good fortune he’s had to have been raised by his parents, and has great relationships with both of them. They taught him invaluable lessons that shaped his moral compass — be intentional in everything you do, take advantage of the opportunities that come to you and that you create for yourself, and be aware of the consequences of your actions — and they have provided him with the tools to take a thoughtful, measured, and even-keeled approach to dealing with all of life’s challenges.
Joey has served the role of primary educator for Rory, and he credits her with his admirable social conscience and deep knowledge of politics. Matthew and Rory are practically best friends — they enjoy watching classic movies together, especially Westerns and Science Fiction films; and, perhaps most importantly, they share a love of soccer.
Growing up in a small town of Washington called Longview, Matthew always had a passion for soccer. He played competitively during his primary and secondary school years, and was quite good. After graduating from high school, he continued his soccer career at Lower Columbia Community College of the NWAAC. It is not an exaggeration to say that Matthew was addicted to the game in his younger years — a real soccer jones. When he wasn’t playing, he was watching his favorite club, Manchester United, compete in the English First Division, and later in the Premier League. His love of soccer was transferred to Rory from the moment Rory was introduced to the game at the age of 3.
As soon as Rory stepped foot on a competitive soccer pitch, he stood out amongst his peers. Even when he played micro-soccer at the age of 5, he recalls scoring lots of goals and dominating the competition. In his pre-teen years, there was a change in the structure of American youth soccer — team composition changed from age to birth-year, meaning that Rory began playing with and against older boys for the first time in his career. This led to an increase in competition, which, in turn, led to a sharpening of Rory’s skills. Indeed, far from serving as a deterrent to young Rory, superior opposition inspired him to work harder than ever before. His competitive spirit is second to none, and if he can’t be the best, then he’d prefer not to play at all. And, because he loves to play soccer more than anything else in the world, not playing was not an option — so he put in tireless hours of work on the practice field day in and day out, honing his game to realize his dream: competing at the highest level of the sport.
By the start of his freshman year at Winston Churchill High, Rory was a standout player with Potomac Soccer club, a program competing in the second tier of the American Youth Soccer Pyramid. While playing at the second highest level of the youth game gives an athlete less national exposure than those playing in MLS NEXT (the highest level of youth soccer), it does afford them the opportunity to play for their high school team — an opportunity that MLS NEXT clubs disallow. And, just as his parents had taught him his entire life, Rory made the most of the opportunity before him.
Winston Churchill is one of the best public high schools in the state of Maryland. The students come from wealthy families, the facilities are well-funded and well-kept, and the academics are rigorous and competitive. Rory’s freshman year at Churchill started strong — he performed well on the soccer pitch, developed a close group friends, and earned high marks in the classroom. But, that all came to an abrupt end when the COVID-19 pandemic hit America. At first, students were given a couple of weeks off at the beginning of spring; but quickly, students, teachers, and parents alike realized that the situation was far more dire than they could have ever imagined. What started as an extended spring break became a lost second semester followed by a full year of online learning.
When it became clear that students wouldn’t be returning for the second semester of the 2019–2020 school year, Rory did what almost all teenagers did during that time — he turned to social media to satisfy his desire for personal interaction. But, unlike most of his peers (and many adults), Rory quickly recognized that excessive social media use was toxic and mentally unhealthy. And so, Rory Brookhart, at the age of 14, deleted every social media app from his phone — swearing off Instagram, Tik-Tok, and Snapchat for the entirety of the lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Instead, he spent more time with his younger brother, Myer — growing closer with him than ever before. He also went hiking, paddleboarding, and kayaking frequently. And, to maintain his social connection with his friends, he played soccer recreationally.
While the pandemic understandably stunted the growth and development of many young people, Rory was affected in a distinctly different way — his maturation accelerated, he grew more comfortable and confident with himself, he developed healthy hobbies and habits to cope with stress, and he established stronger relationships with his friends and family. How was he able to beat the odds and avoid the black hole of anxiety and depression that many Americans fell victim to during the pandemic? To answer this question, one need look no further than Rory’s parents — Matthew and Joey. The lessons they taught him and traits they instilled in him from birth equipped him with the tools to calmly assess the set of circumstances presented to him, and respond to them in a thoughtful and emotionally mature way. Rory anticipated the consequences of spending hours upon hours scrolling through social media, watching television, and playing video games; and chose a different route — one that allowed him to emerge from the pandemic healthier and happier than ever before.
Upon returning to Winston Churchill in person as a Junior, Rory was prepared to pick-up where he’d left off halfway through his Freshman year in the classroom and on the soccer pitch. He continued to excel in his studies and on the field. While high school soccer coaches are typically ill-equipped to help their players with college recruitment, Churchill’s coach, Arnold Tarzy, was different. Coach Tarzy did everything in his power to give Rory, his star player, the exposure necessary for college coaches to see his game; and he taught Rory the standard of excellence required to compete at the Division I level. Again — recognizing the opportunity presented to him, Rory took full advantage of it. After continuing to improve his skills through his Junior season and into his Senior year, Rory saw his hard-work pay off when he earned a spot on the prestigious 2022 Washington Post All-Met Soccer First Team.
In the summer before Rory’s phenomenal senior soccer season at Churchill, he made a commitment to push himself academically during his final year in high school. On the surface, this was a peculiar decision — he had already received and accepted an offer to attend Colgate University after graduation, so there was nothing tangible to gain from taking 5 AP classes. Why not take it easy and enjoy his senior year with his friends? But Rory, ever the divergent thinker, saw things differently — he believed that, because his college decision was settled, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain from taking on an additional challenge. His thinking in this regard is as follows: while Churchill is a very academically rigorous high school, the workload that the average student undertakes pales in comparison with what is asked of Colgate University students. So, what better way to prepare oneself for life as a Division I student-athlete at one of America’s premier universities than to enroll in the toughest classes at one of America’s best high schools? As one might expect from a young man of Rory’s character, he rose to the occasion and graduated with honors after his most challenging year academically, and his most successful year athletically.
In preparation for his Freshman year at Colgate, Rory spent most of the summer of 2023 continuing to work on his soccer game. From his conversations with Colgate players and coaches, he anticipated that speed of play and physicality would be the biggest differences between the high school and college games — and so, he’s been working on developing his body over the last few months: building muscle in the gym and adopting a diet designed to help him gain weight.
Once he arrives at Colgate, Rory plans to major in Environmental Economics — a discipline he is already familiar with due to his parents’ extensive experience in the field. With the 2023 NCAA Soccer season and school year weeks away, Rory’s expectations for himself are sky-high; he wants to immediately build upon his remarkable academic and athletic success from high school, in spite of competing at a higher level on and off the pitch. But history has shown that Rory thrives under pressure, and he is well equipped with all of the tools to face this new challenge.
While it’s impossible for anyone to know how much playing time a freshman will receive when they join a Division I soccer program, I can guarantee that Rory will be an asset to the team, regardless of how often he plays during his first year with the club. His strength of character, emotional maturity, self-awareness, and altruistic spirit can only positively affect the lives of everyone he touches. I can’t wait to see what Rory accomplishes at Colgate and beyond.
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For the first profile and interview of this series featuring Morehouse College basketball legend James Walker, click here.
For the second profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University basketball player Jeff Woodward, click here.
For the third profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University basketball player Oliver Lynch-Daniels, click here.
For the fourth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University soccer player Max Edelstein, click here.
For the fifth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University soccer player Bobby Foose, click here.
For the sixth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University soccer player Alejandro Coury, click here.
For the seventh profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University soccer player Mason Pahule, click here.
For the eighth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University rower Noha Shahba, click here.
For the ninth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University rugby player Tommy McHale, click here.
For the tenth profile and interview of this series featuring Colgate University soccer player Cason Stafford, click here.
