The Daily Gamecock

Jonathan Holt: "I don’t think there’s anything like it"

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Ever since Jonathan Holt was a child, he's been enamored with politics.

He loved to watch the news and learned the name of every senator. When Sen. Elizabeth Dole came to visit his hometown in North Carolina, Holt was ecstatic. Holt was 14 years old, and he decided to walk into town to see her deliver her speech.

“She was here in my little town and cared about what people like me think,” he said.

When he returned home, he was in huge trouble — it took about an hour to walk into town, and the trip made him cross highways and intersections. Nonetheless, he was glad he made the trip.

His passion for politics and the inner-workings of government are some of the many reasons he's making a run for student body president.

Holt joined Student Government by participating in Freshman Council. He went on to become a student senator, then president of the student senate.

“For me, college was not always guaranteed. I am the first person in my family to attend any type of college,” Holt said. “Financially, it was going to be a challenge to go anywhere.”

He said he’s appreciated every moment he’s spent in Columbia. He’s explored downtown, learned the city's history and hiked in the Congaree National Park.

Through his time as a University 101 leader, he came to realize that college means different things for other people and that no matter what path someone takes, they can feel just as accomplished.

If elected, Holt hopes to help give others an even better college experience by making SG more accessible to students.

His four areas of focus include improving academics, athletics, student life and safety and transportation.

To improve student life, Holt pointed out that students should have easier methods in speaking to SG officials. As student body president, he would hold open office hours so students could easily talk to him about their worries and ideas.

As for athletics, Holt hopes to make water more available during sporting events by installing more fountains in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Students constantly struggle with parking on campus. While Holt accepts that it’s a difficult problem to fix, he said he hopes to create a payment plan for parking passes so students don’t have to drop a lot of money on parking on top of their tuition.

When it comes to academics, Holt hopes to connect USC to an SEC wide program called Open Source Textbooks — books would be online and far more affordable to students.

Holt said he wants USC to continue being a campus filled with vitality.

“The thing about being a public servant is that it comes with a great deal of extra responsibility and expectations, but also the reward that you can get from speaking for others,” Holt said. “I don’t think there’s anything like it.”


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