The Undergraduate Students Association Council, or USAC, is the official governing body of the Undergraduate Student Association, or USA, which consists of all undergraduate students at UCLA. Every spring quarter of each school year, 15 student officers are elected by the USA. While each role within USAC is designed to support the USA, the president of USAC oversees the entire council, bridging the gap between undergraduate students and administration to address issues relevant to the student body and enhance the undergraduate experience.
There are five candidates running for USAC president for the 2025-26 school year: Syed Tamim Ahmad, Diego Bollo, Mafruha Esha, Jiorden King, and Teesha Sreeram. Get to know them, as one of them will soon be serving to represent the undergraduate student body of UCLA. Who that is depends on you, your chance to vote is from 8 a.m. on May 9 to noon on May 16.
Syed Tamim Ahmad (he/him)
Syed Tamim Ahmad is a third-year international student from Dubai and India studying physiological science. He was formerly involved on the resident government council on the Hill as an outreach representative and as a residential assistant, or RA, for Rieber Hall, fostering a welcoming community for incoming students. He also worked at the UCLA Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars and currently serves as the USAC international student representative.
Ahmad’s involvement in student government stems from his care for his peers, colleagues and the Bruin community as a whole. He has strongly advocated for food justice, expanding halal meal options in the dining halls and fighting for students to have their essential needs met. He is also deeply involved in working to destigmatize mental health, assisting students with their personal struggles during his time as an RA and establishing the International Student Wellness Committee within UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, where international students can now receive multilingual and culturally specific support.
“I have advocated for the international community, and it would be great to advocate for the broader UCLA community as well,” said Ahmad, speaking on why he is running for the USAC presidential role. “I have the expertise, experience and advocacy efforts. I can fight for students and uplift [their] voices.”
Ahmad is running on several platforms, which he has based on his conversations with undergraduates regarding their concerns and needs. His first platform is the Bruin Basic Needs Guarantee, which will address the housing, food and textbook insecurity students face and provide alternatives to CalFresh. His second platform promotes a more inclusive, accessible campus for neurodiverse students, those with dietary restrictions and students with learning disabilities by expanding support resources. His third platform focuses on empowering student workers by establishing a Student Worker Resource Hub that will provide legal aid, mental health services and workplace rights workshops. His fourth and final platform is amplifying student voices in policy through community-driven governance, hosting quarterly Presidential Town Halls and working with cultural and identity-based organizations.
“I want students to make sure [they] read the platforms of every single candidate before making an informed decision,” said Ahmad. “My platforms, my advocacy work and the care and empathy I feel [represent] my leadership, and whether or not I am elected, I will continue to fight for students no matter what.”
Diego Bollo (he/him)
Diego Bollo is a first-generation third-year student from Los Angeles, majoring in political science and labor studies. He currently serves as general representative one in USAC, where he has worked to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across campus. In this role, Bollo has worked within the Office of General Representatives to advocate for the Latinx Success Center—which recently launched on the Hill last month—marched in Sacramento for undocumented students’ right to employment and spoken with Chancellor Frenk to uphold UCLA’s commitment to becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
Bollo’s journey in advocacy and student government began his second year, when he served on the board for Grupo Estudiantil Oaxaqueño de UCLA, an organization dedicated to supporting Oaxaqueño students and their broader community in Los Angeles. Bollo said that he understands the struggles cultural organizations face when applying for and receiving funding. He once gave public comment at a USAC meeting to support a proposal allocating funds to Latinx student groups, including Latinx Admit Weekend.
“[Giving public comment] made me see the lack of representation [in USAC] for not only Latinx students but first-generation and low-income students,” said Bollo. “What made me interested in student government was seeing how we can bring our voices to and use [USAC] specifically as a channel for social change for our communities here on campus.”
Now running for USAC president, Bollo is campaigning on a platform focused on equity, community safety and student empowerment. His goals include reimagining campus safety through a community-centered lens, increasing transparency around the campus policing budget, strengthening student organizations and coalitions, closing food and housing insecurity gaps and expanding student voice in decisions at both the local and state levels.
“We don’t want to go to a university where everyone thinks the same—where everyone is from the same background,” said Bollo. “[The] UC shouldn’t be made out to be this prestigious institution. At the end of the day, it should be an accessible institution that serves the people that fund it—the public.”
Mafruha Esha (she/her)
Mafruha Esha, originally from Bangladesh and now residing in Van Nuys, California, is a Bengali-Pakistani second-year student majoring in biochemistry and applied mathematics.
Esha is the CEO of the international public health nonprofit organization Med Coalition and the president of Med Coalition’s chapter at UCLA. She is also part of the United Nations Non-Governmental Organizations Trusteeship, representing Med Coalition and connecting with healthcare leaders and policymakers worldwide to make healthcare more accessible. On campus, she is USAC’s budgeting review director, managing nearly $500,000 in funding allocated to a wide range of student organizations—from engineering to gaming to agriculture.
For Esha, the role of budgeting review director is especially meaningful because of the struggles she faced at UCLA during her first year. She came into the institution with the support of financial aid and suddenly found that it had been removed from her financial package, causing her to drop her course load three times within her first quarter. Esha said that the support she received from other students as well as the Scholarship Center after explaining her situation compelled her to join student government and to now run for the role of USAC president.
“I want to be that one person who tells students on campus that it is possible,” said Esha. “It [can be] really, really hard, but there’s people like me who have been through it and want to help [other students] get through it.”
If she were to be elected, Esha said that she will expand the platforms she is currently running on based on student feedback and prevalent issues that may arise in the 2025-26 school year. As of now, she is currently running on several platforms: cutting the USAC elected official stipends in order to increase job security for students and staff working on campus, changing the dining menus on campus to be more inclusive of those with dietary restrictions, addressing food insecurity by working towards returning breakfast and dinner meal swipes at on-campus dining facilities and expanding opportunities for students wishing to get involved by encouraging student organizations to implement a more inclusive application process.
“I have a duty towards my Bruin community to give back in some way to all those who have helped me,” said Esha. “The best way I can give back is by being a president who will listen to you, who will be here for you and who will guide you.”
Jiorden King (she/her)
Jiorden King is a third-year Black, Samoan and Chinese student from Inglewood, California, majoring in psychology and minoring in education.
She currently serves as president of the Pacific Islands’ Student Association, or PISA, an organization that empowers Pacific Islanders on campus by hosting cultural nights, advocating for Pacific Islander student voices to be heard and organizing retention projects supporting student paths toward graduation. Through her time in PISA, she has maintained its goal of ensuring that the Pacific Islander-identifying undergraduate students at UCLA feel included and have a sense of community. Additionally, she works as the chair of the Student Advisory Board for the Community Programs Office, distributing basic and essential needs through events such as the Harvest Distribution, giving away produce to the greater Los Angeles area, and the Turkey Box Giveaway, where thousands of holiday-themed meals were given to students, staff and anyone in need throughout the holidays.
King said that her background encouraged her to get involved with student advocacy and government. Her role in PISA, which has given her the opportunity to speak with administration and campus leadership, opened her eyes to the issues within UCLA that she believes have left students feeling neglected.
“Being from Inglewood, [I want] the struggles I’ve gone through and my whole story to shine through in my campaign,” said King. “One of the main reasons I’m running is so people like me—who talk like me, walk like me and look like me—can understand that these positions aren’t just for middle-class or upper-class students—they’re for lower-income students too. This is an accessible position, and we can make changes from different perspectives, which is something that I really do value.”
Motivated by a desire to bring representation to underserved communities and hold leadership accountable, King is running on several platforms: hosting quarterly forums with administration to address student concerns, launching a centralized website to increase financial transparency and track student fund allocation and expanding opportunities for historically underrepresented groups on campus.
“Students need someone to sit there and listen to their concerns and someone to actually show up for them,” said King. “I want to represent every student on campus, whether they are from a student organization, Greek life or [wherever]; I [will] sit there, listen to them and incorporate any type of resources or plans I know.” King said she plans to continue her community-centered advocacy through the role of USAC president, encouraging students to work with her so she can provide for and support them in return.
Teesha Sreeram (she/they)
Teesha Sreeram, an international development studies student and a first-year transfer from the University of California, Riverside, has been involved in student government since the beginning of their undergraduate career. During their time at UCR, she was the chair of the Campus Safety Alliance committee, where she worked with several campus partners to improve student-run campus safety services such as the Women’s Resource Center. She was also a senator for the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science, or CHASS, representing students within the largest school within the colleges of UCR.
At UCLA, Sreeram continues their advocacy through the Resident Government Council, where she amplifies transfer student voices and as co-director of Access on Board in USAC’s Facilities Commission, working to improve the accessibility of campus facilities.
Sreeram said that the role of USAC president would allow her to work on projects in many different areas of advocacy that she has prior experience in, such as academic advising and mental health support and help support other commissioners in their more specific projects. They also want to encourage other transfer students to apply for leadership positions.
“From my knowledge, we haven’t seen a transfer student president in a few years,” said Sreeram. “And I know there’s areas of our campus culture where transfers aren’t, like, fully accepted, or you know, there’s always a second thought with them. So I want to be that leader and show other transfers, especially incoming transfers, that [their] previous experience is valid.”
Sreeram is running on several platforms: improving academic support for Bruins by providing low-sensory study spaces, comprehensible, quicker academic advising and transparency regarding academic policies; informing faculty on campus resources and how to properly utilize them; expanding support for safety, accessibility and empowerment programs such as the Collegiate Recovery Program, the Campus Assault Resourcesand Education Program; and protecting student rights and free speech.
“I have a proven track record,” Sreeram said. “I’ve done public comment at UC Regents meetings, and I’ve got to go behind the scenes and talk to them. Being able to be the voice for [students] in front of this big panel, because the Regents are our governing body and the ones we have to hold accountable, shows that I’m not afraid to tackle these difficult topics that are being silenced.”
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Featured Image via Daily Bruin Archives
