Third-year sport and entertainment management student Kiki D’Apolito will be the 2026-27 speaker of the student senate. She has served two terms in the student senate and spent one and a half as chairwoman of the judiciary committee.
D’Apolito said one of her primary focuses as speaker is to promote more legislation with strong research even if that means less overall legislation. She said to ensure high quality legislation the senate will focus on internal research, student input and some outside research of other universities. One of the biggest goals of the 118th student senate is to increase overall student engagement, according to D’Apolito.
D’Apolito is introducing a new initiative as speaker to facilitate more conversations between students and their senators called “Speak up with Senate.” The initiative would see senators stand out in front of the colleges they are representing on a bi-monthly basis to interact with students, she said.
“(Speak up with Senate) is so that students at the schools can see who is representing them and also to just encourage casual conversations,” D’Apolito said.
USC's student senate hopes to increase online student engagement through more activity on its Instagram page and by adding a separate student senate tab to the Student Government website. It is also planning to place QR codes around campus, so if a student has a concern, they can fill out a general questionnaire, according to D'Apolito.
“Most people are going to forget that they could look up the Student Government website and fill something out,” D’Apolito said. “So this way, (when) you're passing class, there's QR codes that you can just scan right there. That way, we're getting more feedback at a more consistent rate.”
One of D’Apolito’s other major goals as speaker is to be a mentor to the senators and strengthen mentorship programs within senate. She said she wants to remain accessible to all senators, which starts with remaining consistently open to them.
“On a daily basis, I want to keep open office hours,” D’Apolito said. “I want to publicize those office hours as well so that people know where to find me, but I want to share everything that I've learned in my past two terms.”
D’Apolito is hoping to start a mentor-mentee system within student senate. She said this system would see repeating senators mentor a single new senator or a small group, so she is not the only support system they have.
According to D’Apolito, her work to revise the Student Government codes as chairwoman of the judiciary committee will help her as speaker. She said it provides her with another way to support the senators.
“I can be someone that people go to if they have a question about the codes, as they are a little confusing to read sometimes, and I can just help out where it's possible,” D’Apolito said.
D’Apolito said she hopes to strengthen communication within student senate, which she believes in turn will help strengthen communication with the other branches of Student Government.
According to the other newly elected executive members of Student Government, they are all excited to work with D’Apolito and see what she does as speaker of the senate.
“She just wants to genuinely make the student body better through the student senate, and that's so easy to see when you meet her,” Myron Harris, new vice president, said.
Returning Student Body Treasurer Ashley Reynolds said that she is looking forward to getting to know D’Apolito better, as she feels she’s dedicated, hardworking and passionate when it comes to senate.
New Student Body Vice President Myron Harris said he sees D’Apolito as a selfless, ambitious and cheerful person, which he believes will benefit her as speaker.
Harris said he is excited to collaborate with her and assist in bringing her ideas to life. According to D’Apolito, this has already begun, as Harris helped her initiate the “Speak up with Senate” idea.
New Student Body President Cole Rotondo said he believes D’Apolito will be a strong speaker because she is open to all perspectives and is willing to change her thought process when it is called for.
“She's firm in her beliefs, but she is open to changing her mind when a good point is made,” Rotondo said.
D'Apolito will be sworn in as speaker of the student senate at an inauguration held on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Rutledge Chapel.