Elmhurst University senior Mateo Gomez Bedoya has been named a Lincoln Student Laureate and the University’s 2025 recipient of the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award.

In the spirit of the 16th U.S. president, Lincoln Student Laureates are honored for their leadership and service on campus and beyond, and their desire to make a difference in the world through civic engagement. As an honoree of Illinois’ 51st annual Student Laureate program, Bedoya was among the top students in the state to receive the award, which recognizes academic excellence by graduating seniors from each of Illinois’ four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities.

Bedoya is a world language education and Spanish major who is originally from Colombia and currently lives with his family in Addison, Ill. He and the other Lincoln Student Laureates were honored during a special ceremony on Oct. 18 at the University of Chicago. He attended the ceremony with his parents and sister, and relished the opportunity to network with the other student laureates and to meet leaders from other universities.

“I got to meet people from so many different backgrounds—international students, people from across the country and that grew up in Illinois—and we all had the same connection and were furthering our communities in many different ways,” he said.

Each student laureate, who is selected by their individual school, received the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award, a Lincoln medallion, a challenge coin and a $1,000 check from The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.

“(Mateo) leads with integrity, humility and dedication,” Elmhurst University President Troy D. VanAken wrote in his nomination letter for Bedoya. “Mateo is a very strong student leader on campus and has devoted himself to leading and serving Elmhurst University campus organizations and the student body to the betterment of the entire campus community.”

Bedoya has been a member of the men’s soccer team, has served as president of both Kappa Delta Pi (the international honors organization for education majors) and Alpha Mu Gamma (the national foreign language honor society), and also teaches English language and literacy.

After graduation, he plans to become an educator and, ultimately, to bring about change at broader levels, possibly as superintendent for a large urban school district or even as U.S. secretary of education.

Bedoya left the Lincoln Student Laureate awards ceremony newly inspired to achieve his dreams.

“They told us our journey as leaders in Illinois is just at the starting point, and that we have the potential to achieve great things for our nation and the world,” he said. “Those words are going to stick with me for rest of my life.”