VIDEO: Student Body President Welcomes Record Crowd of Bearcats
Tim Lolli shares his own insights on student success through campus connections.
Student Body President Tim Lolli has news for new and returning students
“I knew I needed to get involved, to do much more than just go to class. I knew I had to push myself to get out of my shell and experience everything UC had to offer,” says the 22-year-old Lolli, a fifth-year marketing major. He says it was that involvement that led him into student leadership on campus, and he wants UC’s record wave of Bearcats to know that Student Government is dedicated to raising awareness about student issues and UC initiatives to benefit students.
Lolli thanks his first student experience outside the classroom – becoming a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity during fall quarter of his freshman year at UC – with getting him on the pathway to meeting new people and connecting with other student leaders. In 2006 as a Student Orientation Leader (SOL) he guided incoming freshmen through their summer orientation. “That experience really made me fall in love with UC and see everything that UC has to offer, from academics to activities to student involvement,” he says.
An avid sports fan who grew up near the Football Hall of Fame, Lolli took an internship with the communications department in UC Athletics, and he says he has witnessed firsthand how the connection with the fans fuels the team to victory. “When I was a freshman, you could just walk into the stadium and it wasn’t any big deal. You nearly had to pull your friends to go to the game,” he says. “Now, the hype isn’t over just one game, it’s about the entire season and tickets are a hot commodity.”
| Tim Lolli (far back) with UC's Darwin T. Turner Scholars |
Last spring, Lolli led Student Government, the RallyCats and UC Athletics into developing a student convenience ticket package for the entire Bearcat football season this fall. It was a sellout, with 1,000 packages sold.
Lolli got involved with the cabinet of Student Government during the 2007-2008 academic year, and served as an at-large senator last year. “I felt that being Student Body President would best qualify me for motivating students to get out and get involved – it has that snowball effect,” he says.
Through his cooperative education experiences, alternating quarters of class study with paid, professional work experiences, Lolli also exemplifies UC’s commitment to experiential learning – linking classroom curriculum to real-world experiences to foster expertise and creativity. “On my first co-op, I worked for a small service satellite company that had never done marketing and had never offered a co-op before,” he says. “By the end of my two quarters there, I was reaching new business prospects of about $100,000,” says Lolli. Another marketing co-op experience took him to Chicago, before he returned to UC during winter quarter 2008 to prepare to run for Student Body President last spring.
Lolli says Student Government is reaching out through other connections on campus, including representation on the UC Alumni Association Board of Governors. “We’re interested in connecting undergraduate students with alumni, and we’re thinking about doing this nationally,” he says. “We’ve also developed a partnership with the City of Cincinnati. I traveled to Portland with Mayor Mark Mallory (a UC alumnus) to tour the streetcar system there. We’re working with the city to keep students as informed as possible about city issues,” Lolli says.
Lolli concludes with a message for the record number of freshmen coming to UC. He says the biggest surprise of his freshman year was a pleasant one, discovering that it was very easy to meet new people and be welcomed into the UC community. “I hope a lot of freshmen take that first step and engage themselves on this campus. Once you take that first step, you’ll be amazed at how that pathway could lead to something better.”
Student Activities and Leadership Development