Peer Health Advocates
Peer Health Advocates (PHAs) are a team of NASPA-Certified Peer Educators supporting and encouraging holistic student health and well-being across campus through culturally responsive programming, projects, and one-on-one meetings. Email us at cmupha@andrew.cmu.edu.
Drop in during office hours to say hi and chat!
Our guiding values are:
Honesty
Empathy
Autonomy
Respect
Teamwork
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Peer Support Meetings
Students can meet with a Peer Health Advocate for things like:
- Practice setting and communicating boundaries
- Navigating on and off campus resources
- Brainstorming mindfulness and meditation tools
- Reviewing and demonstrating safer sex tools
- Generating tasty, satisfying, and accessible meal and snack ideas
PHAs can also schedule to meet with you wherever feels most comfortable - be it a coffee shop, walking around the track, a private room in the Health Promotion office, or on Zoom.
Meet the Undergraduate PHAs
Undergraduate and graduate students can schedule with whomever they prefer. Undergrads can schedule with grads and vice versa!
Amara Vergara Agyakwa (she/her)
Senior, Business Administration Business and Technology Policy
Senior, Business Administration Business and Technology Policy
Languages: English
Interests: Travel, Dance, Nature, Animals, Reading, Family
Interests: Travel, Dance, Nature, Animals, Reading, Family
Cash Reid (he/him)
Senior, Neuroscience - Dietrich
Languages: English
Interests: Martial Arts and old movies
Senior, Neuroscience - Dietrich
Languages: English
Interests: Martial Arts and old movies
Hannah Vuong (she/her)
Sophomore, Dietrich
Languages: Vietnamese/English
Interests: Baking, Reading, and I recently took up stamp carving!
Sophomore, Dietrich
Languages: Vietnamese/English
Interests: Baking, Reading, and I recently took up stamp carving!
Mackenzie Devereux (she/her)
Junior, Biophysics
Languages: English, American Sign Language
Interests: Disability Access, Mental Health Awareness, SA Survivor Advocacy, Rural and Minority Population Equity and Education
Junior, Biophysics
Languages: English, American Sign Language
Interests: Disability Access, Mental Health Awareness, SA Survivor Advocacy, Rural and Minority Population Equity and Education
Marina Brazendale (she/her)
Sophomore, CFA Musical Theater
Languages: English
Interests: Composing, walking and trying out new coffee spots!
Sophomore, CFA Musical Theater
Languages: English
Interests: Composing, walking and trying out new coffee spots!
Madeline Ellinghaus (she/her)
Sophomore, CFA School of Drama
Languages: English
Interests: Theater, Movies, Music, Animals, Food, Exercise, Comedy, Lemurs, TV, Anthony Bourdain, Yoga, Improv, True Crime, Laughing, Sweet Potato Fries, and wearing sunglasses inside.
Sophomore, CFA School of Drama
Languages: English
Interests: Theater, Movies, Music, Animals, Food, Exercise, Comedy, Lemurs, TV, Anthony Bourdain, Yoga, Improv, True Crime, Laughing, Sweet Potato Fries, and wearing sunglasses inside.
Meet the Graduate PHAs
Graduate and undergraduate students can schedule with whomever they prefer. Grads can schedule with undergrads and vice versa!
Motolani Oladitan (she/her)
Masters of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services
Languages: English
Languages: English
Interests: Formula 1, Gym, Baking, Listening to music
Aryan Chandra (he/him)
MS Mechanical Engineering
Languages: English, Hindi
Languages: English, Hindi
Interests: Gym, Nature, Cooking, Anime, Robots
Imama Zahoor (she/her)
MS Healthcare Analytics and Information Technology
Languages: English, Urdu, Punjabi
Languages: English, Urdu, Punjabi
Interests: Reading fiction and artsy hobbies (currently oil pastels). I'm also learning Spanish these days!
Highlights of the PHA Program
The PHA program began as a student organization and has evolved over the years with input from students. PHAs are now paid employees of University Health Services, working as liaisons and a resource for campus health and well-being.
Additionally, the program has shifted from group education to a one-on-one support model via drop-in visits and scheduled consultations.
In addition to the undergraduate program, graduate students are now active in PHA roles to support graduate student health and wellbeing.