The University has included CLS certificate and Racine native Roselyn Pacheco in a list of some notable Spring 2026 graduates. Pacheco says that coming to UW–Madison as a first-generation Latina freshman “meant stepping into spaces I wasn’t always sure I belonged in.” She struggled her first year on campus but soon realized that “the beauty of Madison is that it can become whatever you make of it,” she says. So, Roselyn stepped up and co-founded the award-winning student organization VOCES: Voices of Courage for Equity and Social Justice, where she helped lead voter registration efforts, Know Your Rights panels and civic education workshops. In her sophomore year, Roselyn ran her first marathon and, wanting to share that experience with others, formed the Wisconsin Marathon Team for UW students (and then ran two more Madison Marathons after that). Initially shy about public speaking, she uncovered the strength of her voice as a civic engagement organizer with Voces de la Frontera. Last month, the psychology major won the Miss Great Lakes pageant, leading her to qualify to compete at Miss Wisconsin in June, where she hopes to continue to promote civic education and participation. “Beyond competition, I see this as a launching point,” says Roselyn, who in the future plans to attend law school. “I want to grow my voice beyond campus,” she says, “speaking in classrooms, communities and across the nation about civic education, access and the power of understanding the systems that shape our lives.”