Views from the Hill | 2023 Issue 1

RIGHT: Bagnall’s high school yearbook portrait. CENTER, FAR RIGHT:

Will and Rebecca loved attending games with their Dad.

FAMILY FIRST It is perhaps fitting that Bagnall discovered his love for sports medicine while attending school himself at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. After cutting him from his ninth grade soccer team, his Health & Physical Education Instructor, Jay Schofield, encouraged him to consider sports management the following school year. Bagnall agreed and began managing his “There was and still is the overall sense of community and the relationships you build that are deeply seated here. It truly is a family.” school’s basketball team. His organizational skills and engaging personality made him a natural fit as a manager, but it was watching Schofield take care of Bagnall’s fellow classmates’ injuries that piqued his interest the most. Before long, Bagnall was devouring sports medicine books and soaking up everything he could. By the time high school ended, he had found his path. When applying for positions as an athletic trainer, Bagnall says he felt a kinship with Hopkins immediately because of its small community feel, which felt similar to his upbringing on Martha’s Vineyard. After accepting the job, Bagnall packed up his life in his Volkswagen Beetle en route to New Haven. He’s never looked back. “I like belonging to a group,” says Bagnall. “There was and still is the overall sense of community and the relationships you build that are deeply seated here. It truly is a family.” Athletic Director Rocco DeMaio echoed this idea on the day Bagnall’s retirement was announced. “Don has embodied what it means to be part of the ‘Hopkins Family’ for over four decades,” said DeMaio. “His personable, dignified, and professional manner has enabled him to connect with and influence so many students during his tenure on the Hill. His friendship, passion, and positive leadership will be impossible to replace,” he added.

A CAREER IN CHAPTERS Bagnall says he looks back at his Hopkins career in chapters. Like when he started advising to get to know students in a different way or the unforgettable five-year period he spent living with his young family on campus in Alumni House, where the communications and advancement offices now live. This was a particularly exciting time for Bagnall’s children, Rebecca ’09 and Will ’12, who practically grew up on the sidelines beside their father. “Even though I wanted to see all the action, I did learn to stay on the sidelines specifically when my Dad would have to run out onto the field when a player got hurt,” remembers Rebecca. “When we weren’t playing in the end zones, Will and I would often hang by the coveted golf cart and watch our Dad evaluate various injuries.”

Years later, Will and Rebecca attended Hopkins, which was a different chapter altogether.

“People who didn’t know my Dad or weren’t affiliated with Hopkins always asked me if it was weird to go to the school where he worked, but I honestly felt so lucky. Will and I always joke that our Dad was more popular than us in high school. I loved our car rides, being able to get hot cocoa in the cafe, and just stop and say hi to him. My Dad was such a support, but also didn’t overstep and let us find our own way at Hopkins,” remembers Rebecca. When his children entered Hopkins as students, Bagnall gave them a joke to use if they ever encountered a fellow student who was critical of him. “I’d tell them to say, ‘Hey at least you don’t have to live with him,’” recalls Bagnall. As a true testament to Bagnall’s likability, Will and Rebecca never had to use that joke.

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2023 • ISSUE 1 | VIEWS FROM THE HILL

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