Khadijah Abdalla, a third-year political science student, is running for the position of USAC transfer student representative, or TSR, for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year. She is currently a member of the Campus Retention Committee funded by USAC. At De Anza College, she served as a volunteer coordinator for several political campaigns and as the president of the Muslim Student Association. Through her work as a volunteer coordinator, she was able to acquire and institute $950 a month for low-income students in the Bay Area that were in need of housing. Now, she wants to give back to the UCLA community.
“I was interested in running for transfer student representative because when I first got into UCLA, I felt really out of my depth. I felt really disillusioned socially, academically and professionally. I didn’t feel like there were a lot of opportunities that I had access to, and the opportunities that were specialized for transfers were lacking,” said Abdalla. “We’re lacking outreach, and we’re lacking in the variability and extent to which [opportunities] were provided. They’re very competitive and not sustainable for the amount of transfer students we have. I didn’t really know too much about USAC coming in, but I gradually understood that it was the main mechanism for which change was made on this campus.”
While initially trying to become involved in USAC, Abdalla was placed in a different committee than the one she applied for and was accepted into it without being informed. Having to navigate through this situation before actively participating in USAC is an experience that she says has also driven her to run for the position of TSR.
“Through the work of the committees, I understood that something as small as a subset of USAC had the power to dictate funding, had the power to dictate resources and had the power to reallocate so much support for so many different programs and clubs,” said Abdalla. “I got to thinking that if I were to run for TSR or even just work in the office that I could be productive towards making transfer experiences a lot easier, just as I wish mine was when I first came in.”
Abdalla is running alongside USAC general representative candidate Omar Slayyeh, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student.
“We decided to run together because we have shared values and the same outlook for how we want to improve transfer life here as well as the lives of the general population here. If we were to both win, that would allow us to directly work together and have greater impacts towards USAC and the entire [student body],” said Abdalla. “Almost all of our platforms are about transparency and accountability. We really want to change the lack of transparency in USAC. We want to hold the administration accountable for how they allocate our funding and what they’re choosing to disclose.”
Abdalla is running on three platforms, which she has listed as “access, inclusion and reform.”
Her first platform is to expand resources and opportunities for transfer students and to make them accessible through allocating funding toward and working directly with organizations that serve underrepresented communities such as the Community Programs Office.
She also believes in creating more inclusive pathways for transfer students in areas pertaining to personal, academic and professional opportunities, which is the focus of her second platform.
“A disproportionate amount of transfers are from less traditional, more marginalized communities. We have higher rates of low-income students and international students who are transfers, and within these marginalized communities,” said Abdalla. “I think that instituting pathways [that have] incentives to be more inclusive would allow transfers to integrate themselves into those environments and find people with like-minds. It’s really important to have people around you in the same academic space to support you and work together. I also want to expand access, not just to traditional transfers who live on campus. I want to subsidize parking for commuters because commuters are one of the most forgotten communities here.”
Abdalla’s third platform emphasizes transfer student voice, with a focus on getting transfer students involved within student government and leadership roles. She believes that in order for change to be enacted, students take direct part in that change.
“I know what it’s like to be a regular student, and I know what it’s like to feel threatened and unsafe within institutions,” said Abdalla. “But that’s why I do the work that I do, and that’s exactly why I’m running for TSR.”
Voting opened at 8 a.m. on May 8 and closes May 15. To keep up with Abdalla’s campaign, you can follow her @khadijah4tsr on Instagram.
