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 (http://dailynexus.com/) and/or in our April 30, 2026 print edition.

The 2025-26 Associated Students External Vice President for Statewide Affairs Leiya Kadah reflected on her term working on University of California-wide initiatives and advocating for students.

Throughout her term, Kadah has navigated a shifting landscape within the UC due to federal cuts to higher education and attacks on DEI. Sherine John / Daily Nexus

The Associated Students (A.S.) External Vice President for Statewide Affairs (EVPSA) represents UC Santa Barbara students at the state and federal level and is a member of the UC Student Association (UCSA).

Kadah, a fifth-year psychological & brain sciences major, has spent her term working on long-term projects and UCSA campaigns. In February, UCSA introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment 18, which would add a second voting student regent to the UC Board of Regents, after the first was added in 1974. Kadah called it “ridiculous” that the UC doesn’t have more than one student regent. 

“If we have more of representation in these governing boards that decide where these funds and where these big decisions go, then hopefully we can see more of that support and resources and funding that students actually deserve,” Kadah said. 

Another major project Kadah and her office advanced was UCSA’s “Racial Justice Now” campaign, which requested $20 million for existing and new programs to assist people transitioning into post-graduation life. Kadah said the campaign has gotten “really positive feedback” from legislators and will be voted on by August.

Given Isla Vista’s food desert status, Kadah lobbied for “ACQUIRE,” a UCSA campaign to expand food security programs, and partnered with other A.S. executives to provide free food from local restaurants to UCSB students. She has also worked on “Fund The UC,” which she said aims to make the UC more affordable in light of rising tuition costs.

This year, Students Enacting Environmental Defense (SEED) has been working on ensuring the UC complies with the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). However, according to Kadah, an audit found that repatriation efforts were not as fast as UCSA and SEED had hoped. 

Kadah highlighted the various events that her office and UCSA organized and participated in, including various advocacy days, the Student Lobby Conference and the Students of Color Conference. Additionally, the offices of the EVPSA, A.S. President and the Student Advocate General recently hosted their third Protect Your Peers event.

For the last few years, Kadah and the EVPSAs preceding her have pursued the creation of a Disability Cultural Center. According to Kadah, efforts have been directed to putting the center in the Student Resource Building. However, there is currently a broken elevator, halting progress.

A primary focus of Kadah’s term has been advocating for undocumented students amidst the increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) presence in Santa Barbara. To this end, she has worked to get Senate Bill (SB) 98 — which requires California schools and requests the UC to alert their communities of I.C.E. presence — adopted by the UC Regents.

According to Kadah, in her last meeting with UC President James B. Milliken near the end of winter quarter, he indicated that SB 98 is something that should be implemented UC-wide. She hopes that communication around I.C.E. presence, the speed of alerts and clarification around false reports will improve.

“[Milliken] wanted us to update on how campuses and chancellors are upkeeping that because it is a directive that he’s given, which I’m sure it is the work of so many other people, but compared to what our meeting was like in October — our first ever EVP meeting with Milliken — [there] seems to be progress there,” Kadah said.

Throughout her term, Kadah has navigated a shifting landscape within the UC due to President Donald Trump’s federal cuts to higher education and attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion. To combat this, Kadah focused on cooperation within UCSA and consistently “advocating in every space [she] can.”

“Coming together as UCSA and having those things like our board meetings each month, where we can really get into each of the particular, but somewhat similar issues that each of our campuses face, is where we can actually make a decent amount of progress,” Kadah said. 

Kadah has continued to work towards connecting students with campus labor unions such as the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299 chapter. She said that members of her office were previously involved with AFSCME and helped create the Student Labor Advocacy Project (S.L.A.P.), which will be having a Mayday protest. 

“It really is these workers that our campus runs on,” Kadah said. “I would hope it’d be a priority to keep people who are involved in labor organizing in this office so that they are often keeping those priorities and perspectives at the forefront.” 

Despite other issues taking priority during Kadah’s term, she has continued to advocate for the UC to divest from companies tied to Israeli military operations in Gaza. She hopes to address it at UCSA’s last meeting of the year with Milliken. She noted that these efforts have been impeded by the UC-wide ban on student governments boycotting certain companies based on their association with particular countries.

While the next EVPSA is yet to be decided, Kadah plans to ease the transition by taking her successor to the last UCSA meeting of the year in May, offering herself as a resource and possibly making a transition guide for the office, among other things. Kadah emphasized the importance of having the whole EVPSA office ready “from the jump.”

A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the April 30, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.