Not all Fightin’ Gators wear cleats and shoulder pads. Meet two UF alumni who outshine their competitors with heart, determination — and a fierce dose of sparkle.

by Barbara Drake (MFA ’04)

If you’ve got the spotlight, use it to inspire others.

That is what alums Pascale Belony (BSHED ’15, BSN ‘18) and Leah Roddenberry (BS ’21) did in December 2021 when they competed in two of the world’s top pageants for women. And, wow, did these polished Gators make an impact.

Double Gator Pascale Belony, 28, took to the stage as Miss Haiti for the 70th Miss Universe pageant, held in Eliat, Israel, and broadcast on Fox. A registered nurse, Belony eloquently advocated for health education while paying homage to Haiti’s original inhabitants in a stunning national costume whose design she inspired.

Recent UF graduate Leah Roddenberry, 22, the current Miss Florida, placed in the Top 10 at the 100th Miss America competition, live-streamed from Connecticut. Roddenberry was a finalist for her social impact initiative, Be a LeadHER, and harnessed her Dazzler-honed skills to command the stage in the talent portion, dancing to Queen’s 1979 anthem “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

Other competitors were awarded the crowns, but the two Gators walked away winners. Belony raised the profiles of MamaBaby Haiti and P4H Global, nonprofits she serves, and Roddenberry earned more than $45,000 in scholarships for law school. Both women also became fan favorites on social media.

“It’s much more than a crown and a sash,” Roddenberry said in a recent interview. “Determination, believing in yourself, speaking up diplomatically, getting involved with the community: you gain all these even if you don’t win a title.”

During the national costume portion of the Miss Universe contest, Belony wowed the crowd in a majestic dress that paid homage to the original inhabitants of the isle of Hispaniola. Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images.

Both Roddenberry and Belony overcame personal obstacles to represent Florida and Haiti — as well as the Gator Nation — in their respective contests.

A dancer since age 3, Roddenberry suffered from extreme scoliosis in adolescence and underwent spinal fusion surgery in her senior year of high school. With a coach’s help, she safely trained to return to dancing and joined the Dazzlers dance team as a freshman, performing for four straight years at UF athletic events.

“That was an incredible feat for me,” she said. “I remember in high school being so ashamed of sharing my condition with my peers since I had this big scar on my back. … And then I got to perform onstage as part of the Top 10 for Miss America. It just goes to show that anything is possible if you don’t let roadblocks stop you.

“Today, I serve as a national spokesperson for an organization titled Setting Scoliosis Straight that does a lot of scoliosis research and provides resources for patients and doctors around the world,” she added proudly.

Miss Florida, Leah Roddenberry, dances to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” during the talent portion of the 100th Annual Miss America Pageant in December 2021. Roddenberry overcame severe scoliosis and spinal-fusion surgery to become a UF Dazzler.

For Belony, a major challenge was overcoming a feeling — familiar to millions of women — that she could never measure up to the physical standards of a beauty queen.

“When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being on a Miss Universe stage,” she said in a 2021 video. “Along the way, society convinced me that I wasn’t good enough: I wasn’t tall enough or skinny enough.”

Born in 1993 in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, to a family of nurses, Belony had no opportunities to compete in pageants in her native country, she said in a recent interview. In 2005, political unrest forced her family to flee to Florida. She learned English by consulting a dictionary while watching the Disney Channel and CNN. A competitive runner and top student at Northeast High School, in Oakland, she enrolled at UF’s College of Health and Human Performance in 2011, becoming the first member of her family to attend college.

Belony grew in confidence and experience at UF, serving as a Cicerone and as a student Gator Nurse Ambassador for the College of Nursing. For inspiration, she looked to fellow Haitian immigrant and UF alum Bertrhude Albert (BA ’12, MA ’14, PhD ’16), cofounder and CEO of P4H Global, which trains Haitian educators to be better teachers. Belony now serves on the organization’s board of directors.

“Bertrhude exemplifies the idea that a single thoughtful citizen and her passionate dedication can change the world,” said Belony in a recent interview. “Today P4H Global has trained over 7,000 Haitian teachers, and this project is something that Bertrhude started as an undergraduate at UF!”

After earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2018, Belony felt ready to tackle a long-deferred dream: representing her homeland in the Miss Universe pageant.

By then, at age 25, her concept of beauty had evolved.

“Beauty should never be defined by a woman’s physical characteristics because we are more than that,” she said. “Beauty can be defined by love, our capacity to serve others, our intelligence and our character.

“I’m so glad that, as Miss Haiti, I can represent body positivity and serve as a role model for other young women who look like me,” she added.
In ways, Roddenberry’s path to pageant success could not be more different than Belony’s. A native of Bradenton, Roddenberry began participating at age 6 in the Sunshine Princess Program, a girls’ mentorship initiative of the Miss Florida organization. Her success as a “princess” led to the titles of Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen 2013 and 2015, Miss University of Florida 2019, Miss Tampa 2020 and Miss Florida 2021.

But on her 16-year-long pageant journey, Roddenberry battled more than scoliosis: she was plagued by painful shyness as a young girl, especially in school.

“As the youngest of five kids, I felt like I always had someone speaking for me and was terrified to raise my hand in class,” she said. “It really hindered me.”

Like Belony, Roddenberry found the support she needed from a woman Gator.

The reigning Miss Florida, recent CALS grad Leah Roddenberry visited the UF campus in January to cheer on the Gators basketball team. Photo by Aaron Daye.

In 2012, the then-reigning Miss Florida Laura Rutledge — a former journalism major at UF, now reporter and host for ESPN and SEC Network — mentored young Roddenberry in the Sunshine Princess Program. Rutledge encouraged the shy 12-year-old to speak up and use her visibility to do good in the world. It was just the advice Roddenberry needed to boost her self-confidence and give direction to her life.

While Roddenberry worked toward her UF bachelor’s degree in family, youth and community sciences — “the Tim Tebow major!” she said — she served as a Florida student ambassador for Rock the Vote and founded the UF chapter of Ignite, which engages young women in civics and politics. In her senior year, Roddenberry was named an Outstanding Student Leader at UF, one of just six students honored. After graduation, her Gator connections followed her to the Miss America stage.

“Laura [Rutledge] actually came to Miss America one night to see me compete in Connecticut,” she said, smiling.

After Roddenberry finishes serving her term as Miss Florida in June 2022, she will attend Belmont College of Law, in Nashville. Her eventual goal is to become a national press secretary.

As Miss Haiti, double Gator Pascale Belony advocated for health education at the 2021 Miss Universe Competition in December 2021. Belony holds degrees from the College of Health and Human Performance, and the College of Nursing. Photo by Aaron Daye.

Belony, too, has big dreams. Recently employed as a surgical nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, she would like to work for the United Nations one day.

If these two young women are determined to aim high, it’s due in no small part to their formative experiences at UF.

“Being a communicator, being a leader: I learned these traits at the University of Florida,” said Belony. “I learned to be a woman who is confident, a woman who is not afraid to take on challenges. All the dreams I have — I know I’m capable and very much ready to pursue these opportunities because I am a Gator.”