Election results for the 2026-2027 school years Associated Student Board of Executives and Directors were revealed Tuesday afternoon.
Associated Students supports and represents San José State students through programs and services, according to the A.S. Webpage.
Over 49 candidates started out the election, with the number being narrowed to 29 candidates during voting due to cuts and students dropping out, according to a March 17 Spartan Daily article.
About 20% of the spring semester student body who casted votes for the 2026-2027 election, stated by Interim Executive Director Kingson Leung during the reveal.
In terms of participation, during the reveal it was stated voter turnout was the highest in the last 5 years and 10% higher than last year’s verified voting casts, according to a 2025 A.S. voting document.
Twelve new members were welcomed to the board during the election reveal.
Ma’Kayla Akin, a second-year political science student, won the A.S. presidency.
Akin said she was feeling really excited and good about the win.
“Right now, I’m just feeling all the emotions, and I’m happy,” Akin said. “I’m grateful, I think that this is an opportunity really of a lifetime, you know. And I just appreciate everyone.”
In the 2025-2026 term, Akin served as the A.S. director of legislative affairs, where her goals were to increase civic engagement and promote important legislations that affect the student body, according to an A.S. webpage.
Akin said her next steps going forward into this presidency is to continue more on those same goals.
“I’m working on public safety, and that means working with the city to make sure I’m holding them accountable, and then working with the dean of the library as well as making sure that SJSU is a student center not only for SJSU, but also for the whole San José city,” Akin said.
Shannon Lo, third-year data science student, was elected for the vice president role.
Lo was not previously on the A.S. Board of Directors, but she has previous experience in leadership roles within organizations on campus such as being a Society of Women Engineers alumni relations chair and a student mentor, according to Lo’s LinkedIn.
Lo said her next steps heading into the vice president position is to get more comfortable with A.S. board experience and laws.
“I know there’s gonna be a lot of training, so I’m prepared for that and just making sure that I have the resources to reach out to if I ever need them and just prepare to represent the people,” Lo said.
Adi Sereima Tuidelaibatiki, fourth-year business administration student, was elected as A.S. controller.
Tuidelaibatiki is the current A.S. director of intercultural affairs and works as the chair of the Multicultural Advisory Committee and the Spartan Community Fund, according to an A.S. Webpage.
Tuidelaibatiki said by summer she hopes to make everything fund-related easier for the students as controller for the 2026-2027 school year.
“We have a funding request for orgs to come in,” Tuidelaibatiki said. “And asking for money, I feel like it’s kinda a hassle just getting money from A.S, so I feel like if we incorporate that on the SAMMY app, that’s basically my first goal to achieve.”
Director of sustainability affairs, director of student rights and responsibilities, director of legislative affairs and director of co-curricular affairs were some of the most competitive areas of the election.
Krupali Makwana, a second-year material engineering student, won the director of sustainability affairs position against three other candidates.
Director of sustainability affairs is in charge of educating A.S. on issues involving sustainability and recycling, according to the San José State webpage.
Melody Horoufi, a first-year political science and Chicano studies student, won director of student rights and responsibilities against three others.
The role of the director of student rights and responsibilities is to promote awareness of the academic responsibilities of students, according to the San José State Webpage.
Maxwell Fairleigh, a first-year political science student, won director of legislative affairs against three others.
Fairleigh’s new position consists of working with local government officials, giving reports on local, state and federal legislation that impacts CSU students and more, according to the San José State webpage.
The director of co-curricular affairs had three candidates. Third-year business accounting student Alec Lozano won the position.
Lozano will now hold the role of advocating for outreach and accessibility of co-curricular involvement on campus through collaborations with the university, according to the San José State webpage.
Interim executive director for the Associated Students board, Kingson Leung, said that he is looking forward to the new faces on the board for the 2026-2027 school year.
“Having new seats at the table with student leaders is always an exciting thing for us, which includes all the different new ideas and the reason why they want to serve,” Leung said. “Us as staff are here to help support them, and whether they push those things forward so that we can serve all 40,000 students that we have on this campus.”
