CARE Staff
We have conversations with students* about sexual health, hook ups, and relationships, and offer support around sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence. At CARE, we will support and advocate for you no matter how you define the harm that occurred. You can make a confidential appointment by clicking on our pictures below. Speaking with us is different than making a report to the University.
*no matter how you identify or have been impacted: person harmed/victim/survivor/complainant, friend/witness/teammate/roommate, alleged perpetrator/respondent
Alexandra Donovan
Director
Confidential Resource: Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional Students
Pronouns: She/Her
Make an Appointment with Alexandra Donovan
Alexandra is deeply committed to students’ emotional and social wellbeing through her role as a confidential resource for anyone impacted by sexual misconduct and as the Director of CARE. She has an unwavering belief that the strongest among us are those that ask for help.
Knowing every person is uniquely complex, Alexandra practices a holistic, trauma-informed approach to assist students in creating a path forward. She believes our cultures, identities, and socializations create diverse intersectional experiences that directly influence and impact our understandings of and reactions to trauma.
With identities as a white, cisgendered woman – and as a Director -- Alexandra is keenly aware of the power and privilege she holds. She is committed to personal introspection around her identities as well as life-long learning to develop knowledge and skills to combat systemic oppression.
Prior to Tufts, Alexandra has worked with international humanitarian aid and crisis work, victim witness advocacy, community shelters, counseling centers, hospital-based victim advocacy, state-level victim advocacy and Cambridge Public Health Department. Alexandra earned a BA from Syracuse University, MA from George Washington University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in trauma, and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from the University of Geneva. She has won awards for her innovative, creative programming and a US State Department Fellowship to study gender-based violence in Cairo, Egypt.
In her free time, she tries to balance her loves of reading and watching far too much TikTok. She enjoys challenging herself with creative upcycling art projects. Most recently, she’s made a giraffe from old bike tires, a fox from old denim jeans and an owl from a vintage condom tin. She is studying mindful creativity with the goal of offering an additional program of healing and support at CARE.
Emma Cohen
Assistant Director
Confidential Resource: Undergraduate Students
Pronouns: She/Her
Make an Appointment with Emma Cohen
Emma is passionate about her role as a confidential resource for any student impacted by sexual misconduct.
She believes healing is possible and that it looks different for everyone: she offers talking-based appointments as well as two trauma-informed yoga classes, Yoga for Healing and Yoga & Meditation for Emotional Wellbeing. She believes people’s identities impact the ways they experience, process, and heal from harm. As a white cisgendered woman, she has specific lived experiences that influence her perspective, but/and she works to provide culturally-responsive care and welcomes conversations about identity and oppression.
Emma is committed to CARE’s mission of education and prevention - she welcomes conversations with students who have caused harm or think they may have caused harm and is always open to discussions of consent, communication, and interpersonal dynamics.
As a state-certified Sexual Assault Counselor and Domestic Violence Advocate, she has worked at sexual health clinics, rape crisis centers, and as a violence prevention and sexual health educator. She earned a BA from Macalester College in Gender & Sexuality Studies and a Master's in Education from Harvard University with a focus on prevention programming. She has supported incarcerated survivors in jails and prisons, facilitated the Youth Leadership Corps at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and co-led anti-racism trainings for the Boston Public Health Commission’s Division of Violence Prevention. She is the Staff Advisor to the Tufts Sex Health Reps.
Emma leans hard into the “millennial plant mom” trope (which you’ll see if you come by her office) and has the same smoothie for breakfast every day (yes, every). When she’s not at work, she can be found stand up paddle boarding, making sassy/rated R embroidery, and watching trashy reality dating TV.
Eliz Fagan
Prevention and Response Grad Specialist
Confidential Resource: Graduate and Professional Students
Pronouns: She/Her
Make an Appointment with Eliz Fagan
Eliz (EE-liz) is a fierce advocate for creating a culture of consent in the Tufts Community, and is honored to be a confidential resource for any student who is impacted by sexual misconduct.
She believes that connection and empathy are essential in healing, and offers trauma-informed talk-based appointments for anyone impacted by sexual misconduct.
As a queer, cis-gendered white woman, she is constantly reflecting on how her identities have provided her privilege as she moves through the world. She recognizes varying identities can impact an individual’s experience of healing, and how they can shape a student’s ability to feel safe with her. She believes it is her responsibility to provide culturally competent care or provide ample resources so all students can feel support in her office. She embraces the opportunity to have conversations about identity, power, and oppression.
Eliz is passionate that the pursuit of pleasure is an act of protest and fervently believes in the transformative power of sexual education for several important public health issues. She has experience across the spectrum of sexual health, including staffing intimate partner crisis lines, training undergraduate students to be sex educators, providing one-on-one support to survivors of sexual violence, and working as a sex educator in a sexual health and wellness store. After earning a Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies degree from Washington University in St. Louis, she obtained a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University focused on Health Communication and Promotion and Sex, Sexuality, and Gender.
When not at work, you can most likely find Eliz in her garden, reading Greek mythology retellings, or enthusiastically picking up a new hobby she will abandon in a few weeks. She has too many opinions on whatever reality tv show is airing, and wants nothing more than for you to ask her about it.
Sex Health Consultants
We are medical staff dedicated to answering your sex health questions. Ask us anything! This is not a clinical or physical exam but rather a conversation about any questions or concerns you might have, such as questions about: changes in libido, orgasms, having sex with a partner who has an STI, being scared to have sex, menstruation and how your body works, if your bodily functions are "normal," how medications can impact your sex life, "should's" you feel around sexual activity, options if you're pregnant, etc.
For STI or pregnancy testing, PEP or PrEP, prescription birth control, or other medical services, please make an appointment with Health Services.
Shayan Hashmi
Physician Assistant, CARE Sex Health Consultant
Confidential Resource
Pronouns: He/Him
Make an Appointment with Shayan Hashmi
Shayan Hashmi is a Physician Assistant at Tufts Health Services and a confidential resource for students obtaining services through CARE. He is available for conversations on all manners of sexual health topics and enjoys open discussions with students. Please note that appointments with Shayan through CARE are non-clinical (no lab testing, physical exams, etc.) so medical-based appointments should be made through Health Services. Shayan has a background in Emergency Medicine and spends most of his time tending his houseplants and cat.
Ariel Watriss, NP
Nurse Practitioner and Sexual Health Specialist
Confidential Resource
Pronouns: Any Pronouns
Make an Appointment with Ariel Watriss
Ariel L Watriss is a nurse practitioner and sexual health specialist with Tufts Health Services. Their work with CARE is non-clinical (ie no testing or physical exams) appointments, and he supports students by answering any questions/queries they have about sexual health. All topics are welcome and she is open to any and all questions!
Lisa Keegan
Nurse Practicioner, CARE Sex Health Consultant
Confidential Resource
Pronouns: She/They
Make an Appointment with Lisa Keegan
Lisa is a nurse practitioner at Tufts Health Services and is available for discussion of any and all sexual-health-related topics! Please note that appointments with Lisa through CARE are non-medical (no lab testing, physical exams, etc) so please make those appointments through Health Services. Lisa is especially interested in LGBTQ sexual/reproductive health and enjoys baking, dancing, and hiking.
Sex Health Reps
Sex Health Reps programming promotes sexual health, reduces stigma, and prevents sexual assault through ongoing campus-wide sex and consent education.
Sex Health Reps host events like Sexy Bingo, Smut Slam, and film screenings. They put on tailored events for/with specific groups such as residence halls or DSDI centers, as well as bigger events for the wider campus community.
For more information about their virtual and in-person programming or to bring them in for an event, follow @tuftsshr or email the SHR Coordinators.
Green Dot
Green Dot is a proactive and reactive Bystander Intervention program that focuses on changing our campus culture and building skills for a safer community.
Green Dot offers one, two, or four-hour trainings that are tailored to your group’s needs. They train athletic teams, student organizations, and sit on the President’s Steering Committee for Sexual Misconduct Prevention.
For more information or to request a training, follow @tuftsgreendot or email the Green Dot coordinators.