Kasie Roach: Navy Veteran and Victim Advocate Graduates from Empire State University

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — May 22, 2025) Kasie Roach, a Spring 2025 graduate of Empire State University, has faced much change since leaving her hometown of Bloomer, Wisconsin. Stemming from her successful military career, Roach pivoted into sexual assault prevention and response victim advocacy.

The path of foregoing a college education and instead inhabiting the domestic sphere, as was expected of most women in her rural and traditional Midwestern town, was one that didn’t align with Roach’s aspirations as a teenager. “I decided I did not want to be the standard thing that ladies become in Wisconsin … during high school, I started attending classes to become an auto mechanic—I was approached by a recruiter from the Navy,” she says.

Thus began Roach’s military career: she joined the United States Navy in 2000 with the promise of better compensation for her mechanic skills. Having performed well in math and science classes in high school, she was directed to the nuclear power program and became a machinist mate, also referred to as a Navy mechanic.

“I spent the next 12 years working through the ranks as a nuclear machinist mate … turns out it’s nothing like auto mechanics,” comments Roach. While serving, she earned a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering and met her husband. In 2011, Roach left the military due to women being restricted from serving on submarines at the time; she was a chief petty officer.

“It led me to a life of social work rather than engineering,” says Roach, who began working for the Washington Youth Academy—a program designed to assist at-risk youth in getting back on track with high-school credits. “That was where I found my passion was not working with pipes,” jokes Roach.

Once Roach became a parent, she decided to stay at home with her children until they began kindergarten, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then that Roach took on her favorite job: being a lunch lady. “My coworkers were always excited to see me because they were little, hungry, and happy,” she says, beaming.

Following that experience, Roach rejoined the U.S. Navy, this time on the civilian side as a sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) victim advocate. “I cannot overstate my passion for doing right by people who are in the shoes I was in 20 years ago—I feel like I’m in a good place,” she comments.

At that time, Roach’s coworker alerted her to having remaining GI bill benefits, which she previously thought were inactive. A former SUNY system employee, he recommended Empire State University, which prompted Roach to contact the university’s Veteran and Military Resource Center (VMRC). Desiree Drindak and Anne Sweet, director and associate director of the VMRC, respectively, facilitated Roach’s enrollment process and offered their continued support. “I owe the simplicity of it all to them,” she says.

Roach completed her master’s degree in public administration in a mere 10 months. “I was juggling two kiddos, I was a housewife, I was just starting a new job, volunteering all over the place … I never thought that I would have the time to do this,” she shares. The support of her family, as well as the supportive environment at Empire State University, made her transition into civilian life—and back into academia—a smoother one. “Every single professor was easily accessible and on it every time a question was asked,” Roach says.

Throughout her time as an Empire State University student, Roach looked to her professors for insights into complex current events: “[He] had a way of using history to calm us every time… it brought some peace,” she says about Associate Professor Edward Warzala.  Roach emphasizes the importance of having a network of supportive individuals, which she feels grateful to have found at the university.

As a Spring 2025 graduate, Roach has been planning the next step in her personal and professional growth journey. “I have no doubt there’s future education for me at SUNY Empire,” she says, “Dr. Warzala is helping me figure out what direction I would take with a higher education program.” Meanwhile, she continues her duties as a SAPR victim advocate, centering justice, resilience, and support in her work with and for women.