Cole Rotondo, a third-year risk management and insurance student, will be the 2026-27 student body president. Rotondo has served in Student Government as historian and chief of staff to current president Courtney Tkacs.
Rotondo ran for president with Myron Harris, the newly elected vice president, on the three pillars of safety, infrastructure and student experience. Rotondo said it’s important for them to get started with these policies by doing the necessary research to support their positions.
The initiative Rotondo wants to get started on once he’s officially president is adding more automated external defibrillators to buildings around campus. He also wants to get started on making sure there is uniform lighting across campus, and all areas are well lit.
“Sometimes, when you get into office, (lighting) goes to the bottom of the barrel in terms of responsibilities, but I want to keep that a priority,” Rotondo said.
According to Rotondo, while ensuring safety on campus is his first priority, he wants to focus on infrastructure initiatives as well.
“Infrastructure is one of those things that we want to attack early, but you might not see the results right away because it's a process,” Rotondo said.
While Rotondo said he does want to work toward the plans for building a new Russell House, he wants to work on the infrastructure in the current one to make it more accessible for students. This would include trying to make the Russell House more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rotondo wants to maintain an open line of communication with students throughout his presidency. He said he plans to communicate through various ways, such as reaching out to student organizations and continuing to table on Greene Street like he did during his campaign.
“A mix of different approaches is really important because it's never a one-size-fits-all,” Rotondo said.
Rotondo said he wants to use his term as president to help set up the next president for success. The best way to do this is to have him and his staff document everything during their term so that the next group of people in the president’s branch will have a blueprint to start from, he said.
“The more we can kind of jump into it, head-start and get the ball running, the better it will be for students because we'll be able to get more done,” Rotondo said. “And the same thing for the next president, I want them to be able to get to work as soon as possible.”
According to Rotondo, it’s very important for there to be cohesiveness in Student Government in the 2026-27 term. He said some of his plans for cross-branch collaboration include working more closely with student senate to help it research and execute its legislation.
Rotondo also wants to ensure that all branches are communicating what they’re doing with the vice president’s branch, which is responsible for telling students what Student Government is doing.
“We want students to know what we're doing, not for any kind of notoriety's sake. That's not why we're doing it,” Rotondo said. “We just want them to know what resources they have and that their voice and letting us know what they need actually results in tangible change.”
According to Rotondo, he plans to increase communication between Student Government and the other governing bodies on campus, such as the Residence Hall Association and the Graduate Student Association, to best represent all USC students.
As president, Rotondo said he will always be looking to gather new information and listen to students. He said he wants to build a cabinet that encompasses the different kinds of students at USC in order to best meet their needs.
“You could go up there and talk and say, ‘I want to do this. I want to do that,’ but that's not what's important,” Rotondo said. “It's, 'What do students want? What do students need, and how can I be the best representative to students possible?'”
Rotondo’s fellow executive members all said they feel he will be a good student body president.
Ashley Reynolds, who is returning for her second term as treasurer, says she doesn’t know Rotondo that well but is excited to work with him and believes he will make a positive impact as president.
Kiki D’Apolito, the new speaker of the student senate, said Rotondo is a passionate person and always works to find a solution, which she believes makes him a good leader.
“He's never looked at something before and said, ‘I can't do this’, even if it was the hardest thing ever,” D’Apolito said. “He takes every avenue that he can to find a solution. If that solution is not feasible, he takes every avenue he can to find the best compromise to make everyone happy.”
Harris said he is looking forward to working with Rotondo to fulfill their platform's goals.
“I'm honestly just excited to be in a space where I know me and Cole can effectively make change for students that they want to see,” Harris said.
Rotondo will be sworn in as president at an inauguration held on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Rutledge Chapel.