The Nexus compiled profiles of the 2025-26 Associated Students elected officials to reflect on their past year in office. As they look back on their campaign platforms, we asked our elected officials to tell us about their successes and shortfalls throughout their terms in office. The term in reviews for the other executives can be viewed at dailynexus.com and/or in our April 30, 2026 print edition.
Associated Students 2025-26 Internal Vice President Enri Lala reflected on his term chairing the 76th Senate, as well as facilitating campus-wide infrastructure and student safety projects.
While the IVP role is designed to handle the internal affairs of A.S., Lala decided early on that his office would be project forward. Sherine John / Daily Nexus
The Associated Students (A.S.) Internal Vice President (IVP) is responsible for chairing weekly A.S. Senate meetings and handling the Association’s internal affairs.
As part of the 75th Senate, fourth-year history and global studies double major Lala often did not leave their meetings that started at 6:30 p.m. until early into the morning of the next day. As IVP, Lala has ensured that this year’s Senate meetings have consistently ended at 11:00 p.m.
Lala emphasized that the meetings are “night and day” compared to last year, and have become a “much more structured and predictable place to do impactful work.”
While his role is designed to handle A.S. internal affairs, Lala decided early on in his campaign that his office would be project forward. During his campaign, Lala promised to build the Interactive Learning Pavilion (ILP) bike path and reform the Registered Campus Organization (RCO) financial process.
“We as an office have lived up to every promise we made on the campaign trail, every promise we made early in our term and I think we even exceeded them,” Lala said.
Lala restructured the RCO travel financing process so that groups can get accommodations directly through the Santa Barbara travel bureau, rather than paying out of pocket and requesting a reimbursement. Lala said this allows RCOs to travel to conferences and other events without having to worry about a lack of funding.
Beyond his promised initiatives, Lala addressed several incidents of student safety, budget cuts and policing on campus as they occurred throughout the year. Lala emphasized the need for student representatives to not wait for staff to respond to issues on campus.
“In this association, we tend to talk about staff a lot or administration a lot,” Lala said. “If you don’t start the thing yourself, if you don’t have a vision for where student leadership will contribute, here’s what my staff will do. Forget about it, you have to have your own input on [university issues] and your own vision driving it forward.”
At the start of fall quarter, the UC Police Department (UCPD) began enforcing restrictions for students biking off of the designated bike paths, with most enforcement between the Library and the ILP. In response, Lala worked with the A.S. Bike Committee to secure funding to build the ILP bike path, with construction planned to begin this summer.
In October, an attempted sexual assault took place by the lagoon, an area of campus that has been a hotspot for violent crimes, as it remains mostly unlit. Lala, along with Second President Pro Tempore and second-year political science major Evan Sussman, lobbied the California Coastal Commission to get lights installed around the lagoon. Subsequently, the University received a temporary permit to install cameras around the lagoon and plans to install the lights.
Lala also secured $197,000 from the Senate to fund the Michael Ma Bloomberg Terminal Project, which will bring professional business and economics data tools to UC Santa Barbara. The project was originally introduced by Lala as a senator to honor a close friend, Michael Ma, an economics student who passed away.
Throughout the year, the relationship between Boards, Committees and Units (BCUs) and the Senate has been a point of contention, which Lala admitted was a “struggle” and that he could have done additional work to facilitate more productive conversations.
“I don’t think it’s just a logistical fix. I think we also have to start thinking of one another in more humane terms and more like we belong to the same organization,” Lala said.
Ultimately, Lala credits his productivity this year to his staff and emphasized the importance of having a full office.
While the next IVP has yet to be elected, Lala hopes his successor will continue to address campus-wide issues and pressure UCSB administrators to address the needs of students.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the April 30, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
