The two necessary attributes of a successful student body president are aptitude for the position and character. Whether a candidate has Student Government experience or not, any president without one or the other is an inferior choice for the student body.
For this reason, The Daily Gamecock endorses third-year political science and geography student Jonathan Holt, who we feel embodies both of these qualities, for the position of student body president.
This was not an easy decision. Each candidate has a myriad strengths and weaknesses.
But, in the end, Holt combines an extensive knowledge of the system, a number of seemingly-attainable plans for different issues on campus and an even temperament unmatched by the other candidates.
In particular, his plans bring the students and the Board of Trustees closer together captured our attention. One of the student body president's responsibilities is to represent the students as a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees. We feel Holt’s plan to encourage student attendance at board meetings and meet-and-greets on campus will help foster a much-needed student relationship between USC's top decision-makers and the students.
In his endorsement interview with The Daily Gamecock, Holt said his potential weakness was that his time in SG may have limited the scope of his thinking.
For this reason, we believe that, if elected, Holt would do well to work closely with third-year public relations student and fellow presidential candidate Aaron Greene.
Greene comes from a non-SG background, which would complement Holt’s experience and inject fresh perspective into a system which is sometimes known for recycling tired ideas like so much mental backwash.
Plus, Greene has an impressive leadership resume outside of SG. He has served as the president of the Association of African American Students, since his freshman year and brings a number of intriguing ideas to the table that deserves serious consideration. His idea of a Last Night Carolina — a pre-graduation ceremony for students to reminisce about their time here — deserves special mention.
Despite Greene’s impressive resume and evident sincerity, however, we feel that Holt would need less time to acclimate to the role and could therefore get a jump on his plans.
The remaining candidates, third-year Spanish and political science student Jonathan Kaufman and third-year biology student Riley Chambers, have their own particular strengths. Kaufman has a strong focus on student feedback with his “USC Probs” campaign, but doesn’t bring much else to the table. While a colorful speaker, Chambers had a swath of interesting but seemingly unfeasible ideas.
In short, we feel that Holt’s experience, work ethic and capacity for planning makes him the strongest candidate in a strong field and a worthy choice for student body president.