When Cole Rotondo was picking which university to attend, his decision came down to two things: his major and the community.
“Not many schools offer a degree that combines both risk management and insurance,” Rotondo says, “but the Darla Moore School of Business does.”
After visiting the University of South Carolina campus, Rotondo connected with the friends who ultimately made his decision easy.
“I met these three guys who were potentially going to be my roommates, and they created a presentation about all the reasons I should become a Gamecock,” he says. “The fact that they went to that length to make me feel welcome told me all I needed to know about the people at USC.”
Rotondo, who grew up in Pennsylvania, made the move to South Carolina and quickly came to feel right at home. That sense of belonging has driven his desire to make USC better for generations to come.
He got involved with Student Government as a freshman and went on to serve in the administration of two former presidents. Now, as USC’s student body president for the 2026-27 school year, the business and pre-law senior is looking forward to making the most of his time in office.
We talked with Rotondo about his goals for the year.
How did you first get involved in student government?
It’s funny, I never intended to be involved in Student Government. It wasn’t on my radar. But then my University 101 peer leader was working as the recruitment director for a campaign, and she messaged me and said, ‘Hey, by any chance, do you want to get involved in this?’ And I was thinking about it, and I said, ‘You know what? Why not?’
This was when Patton Byars was running for president with Courtney Tkacs. They ended up winning and taking office. When the Student Government application came out, I saw the historian position, and I thought, I love history! Fun fact: It’s not about history at all.
I got that position not knowing what it involved — basically, record keeping — and I wasn’t satisfied just taking notes. So, I asked Patton if I could get more involved, and he started me on some research projects. Then, I also worked as the internal director for the Courtney Tkacs and Jordan Richardson campaign. After they won, Courtney appointed me her chief of staff for my junior year.
Why did you decide to run for president?
I think my experiences helped give me the confidence and knowledge to feel good enough to run in my own right. But the only reason why I’m here right now is because of the 80-plus members on my campaign, and especially my running mate, Myron Harris. I don’t think I would have run without him because he was really my rock through that entire process.
“The most important thing that I’m trying to bring to the presidency, and this is something I've said since I was inaugurated, is it’s not about me. The president is a fun job and it’s a cool title, but it’s just that — it’s a title. Even if I wasn’t the president, I would be trying to advocate for the student body as much as possible.”
What do you hope to accomplish during your term?
Our campaign slogan was ‘Believe in Better’ because we think USC is amazing as is, but you can always make a good thing better. Our three pillars are safety, student experience and infrastructure.
For safety, the focus is on expansion. For example, USC has some automated external defibrillators on campus, but not all of the buildings have one. We want to be able to abide by the American Heart Association's three-minute rule — that you should be within three minutes of an AED at all times. We also don’t have an AED policy on campus. So, we’re working right now to get one off the ground. In addition to holding our annual Safety Week, we’re also looking to improve lighting on campus, especially around the Horseshoe.
For student experience, we want to continue some initiatives we’ve been working on and make certain services better. We want to continue offering water bottles in the student section during games. And we want to expand resources like gameday Uber discounts and make sure those are easy to claim so that students are actually using them.”
For infrastructure, the biggest effort is the Russell House expansion. Student Government is supporting phase one, two and three of the renovations. Earlier this year, the Board of Trustees approved phase one, which deals with expanding the ballroom and dining spaces. Phase two deals with how to use the offices and spaces, and phase three will address the middle part of Russell House and add in more collaborative spaces.
How are you going to represent student voices, especially when it comes to ongoing projects like the Russell House expansion?
The Russell House project is the culmination of years and years of Student Government advocacy. The past presidents have been instrumental in getting it to this point, and my job going forward is to support those next steps. We want to make sure that students have a say in what those facilities will look like. That’s where I’ll be getting input from the student body so I can bring it into the meetings and spaces where decision will be made.
Something else that Student Government has been asked to do for a long time is increase transparency. Previously, the Daily Gamecock has been able to attend Senate sessions and talk to the execs, but they haven’t been able to go to cabinet meetings. So, starting this fall, I’m going to open those up to the Daily Gamecock to come hear what we’re talking about.
What kind of president do you hope to be?
The most important thing that I’m trying to bring to the presidency, and this is something I've said since I was inaugurated, is it’s not about me. The president is a fun job and it’s a cool title, but it’s just that — it’s a title. Even if I wasn’t the president, I would be trying to advocate for the student body as much as possible.
There are many people in various roles in Student Government who don’t get the spotlight shown on them, but they are the real drivers of a lot of change. I try to support everybody as much as possible so that they feel empowered to do good work and that their efforts are recognized. I try to follow a servant leadership model by putting their needs ahead of my own. By doing that, I've found that there’s so much more buy in, there’s less burnout, there's more motivation for people to really give it their all.