Survivors of sexual assault can find a new resource on campus through the Riverview Center.

Kaylee Michelson, the UNI campus coordinator and sexual assault advocate, is responsible for coordinating the partnership between UNI and this organization, as well as ensuring that UNI students who are affected by sexual assault receive the assistance they need.

“[Sexual assault] is happening, whether or not people believe it or not,” Michelson said. “I think with society, we need to make it more known that it is happening, and it is a problem. And that’s something that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be worked on.”

As UNI’s campus coordinator, Michelson provides support services to students in a wide variety of areas, including advocacy, counseling and education. Her work as an advocate allows her to assist her clients in virtually any way that support is needed.

She helps clients report assaults through legal cases or Title IX reports, attends their doctor’s appointments and hospital visits and assists them in coping with their experiences through peer counseling.

“I’m able to be that one constant support person for them, if they’d like, through many different systems,” Michelson said.

She also heads a support group for UNI students who have been affected by sexual assault, which is currently accepting participants for a session that will start in early October. Another way that Michelson brings awareness to sexual violence is by giving presentations on a range of different topics to any audience that requests one.

“There’s one [presentation] I do that’s a panel of sexual assault survivors, where I’ll talk at the beginning a little bit about advocacy and what the Riverview Center does,” Michelson said. “Then I line up three or four survivors, and they will talk and kind of tell their story and be open to questions and things like that.”

Michelson has given such presentations to many UNI classrooms, as well as to faculty and staff, fraternities, sororities, athletics teams and campus resident assistants. Any classroom or group at UNI can request one of Michelson’s presentations through UNI’s website.

Michelson emphasized that the Riverview Center provides free service with a 24/7 counseling hotline and that all information shared with advocates is completely confidential. Additionally, advocates are allowed by law to be present with sexual assault survivors in many situations that may otherwise seem daunting.

“In police interviews, nobody can be denied to have an advocate,” Michelson said. “In trial, at the hospital, and different things like that, they can always have an advocate.”

The Riverview Center typically holds many events in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Support groups are another important aspect of the organization’s work, since they provide a welcoming environment for survivors to connect with one another and stay informed on the issue of sexual assault.

Michelson has served as UNI campus coordinator for two years since graduating from UNI with a degree in family services, but this year, after an on-campus advocate position was eliminated, she is now the university’s sole liaison for advocacy services.

Her work on campus ensures that students will receive the same quality of advocacy that they did before.

Michelson noted that the likelihood of students or people they know having been affected by the issue of sexual assault is higher than many people think, due to the unreliable nature of statistics on the subject. She stressed the importance of spreading awareness of this issue, and her position on campus serves as a way for students to become informed and seek out assistance when necessary.

“Most of the time I’m here,” Michelson said. “And if I’m here, anybody can walk in and talk to me.”

Michelson’s on-campus office is located in Bartlett 2026.