Stetson junior Victoria Ramón ’25 was one of 137 college students from across the nation to be recognized in the 2024 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll.

Ramón was further selected to be one of only six students featured in a video on ALL IN’s Instagram highlighting the honorees.

The ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll awards college students doing outstanding work to advance nonpartisan democratic engagement at participating campuses. Ramón joins the coveted group of students from across the nation who were recognized for their voter registration, education and turnout efforts during recent election cycles which featured critical ballot measures and local and state races. 

“Young people who vote in their very first elections are 30% more likely to become habitual, lifelong voters,” said Kevin Winchell, director of Community Engagement at Stetson, who nominated Ramón for the honor. “So, institutions of higher education have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to do all we can to ensure that our students are registered to vote, enrolled in vote-by-mail, educated about the issues from as many informed perspectives as possible, and supported in get-out-the-vote activities during early voting and on Election Day.

“Victoria has worked tirelessly and strategically to help us achieve our goal of surpassing our 2020 campus turnout of 73.8%. This award recognizes Victoria’s leadership of this effort.”

Ramón is an Honors self-defined major of Social Justice and Community Engagement with a minor in Spanish. As the student director of Stetson Votes, she leads civic engagement activities on campus which allowed eligibility for the ALL IN award.

“In the three years I have served as director of Stetson Votes, I have aided in building up the program, secured $6,000 in grant funds to support the program and established the first student organization coalition,” Ramón said. “I am allowing myself to celebrate how far I have come in my civic engagement journey and this award was one step toward that.

“I do this work for all the Stetson students who might be scared to vote or just have questions. And now, to have that recognized by a national organization is something that I only ever dreamed about.” 

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge engages more than 1,000 institutions enrolling more than 10 million students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  

“Whether it’s a presidential election year or one with critical state and local races on the ballot, students have a powerful role to play in fostering active and engaged campuses, and getting their peers to participate in our democracy,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is honored to celebrate 137 student leaders who model nonpartisan democratic engagement.

“These honorees hosted candidate information sessions, created guides on polling location accessibility, registered their peers to vote and so much more,” she said. “We know these students will continue to make a difference in our democracy.”

And that’s exactly what Ramón hopes to do during her remaining time at Stetson. 

“I’ll continue to work for Stetson Votes until I graduate in 2025,” she said. “This summer, I plan on developing my succession plan and making sure that I am leaving a strong foundation for the students who will continue this work at Stetson. Civic engagement and empowering students to vote is not a one and done roll. This award does not mark the end of my civic engagement journey.” 

– Trish Wieland