January 20, 2017

SVSU residential student honored with national award for promoting health

‌A Saginaw Valley State University student's passion for promoting a safe environment for her peers has earned her national recognition. Megan Christoson, a health science major from Fowlerville, recently received the National Association of College and University Residence Halls Student of the Month award for November.

Christoson has taken an active role in educating and encouraging students to make healthy decisions through SVSU’s Peer Health Education program where she is currently the alcohol education intern. She was invited to present at the national Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students (BACCHUS) conference where she presented on the topic of the SVSU CHEERS program, which she helped create. The CHEERS program encourages students to arrange for a designated driver after consuming alcohol away from home.

Taking advantage of other empowering opportunities, Christoson also is a member of SVSU's chapter of Phi Delta Epsilon, a medical fraternity. She assisted in hosting a benefit dinner where the group raised over $11,000 in support of the Children's Miracle Network at Flint's Hurley Medical Center.

In order to receive the national honor, Christoson received the Student of the Month award for the Great Lakes Association of College and University Residence Halls. From there, regional Student of the Month award recipients were evaluated by a national selection committee. More than 400 colleges and universities are members of the national association, including 57 in the Great Lakes region.

For more information on the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, visit http://www.nacurh.org/.