The presidencies of UC Davis student governments and hired advisors to the chancellor and the dean of Graduate Studies are among the most high-profile student positions on campus. Let’s meet five students who’ve taken on the roles this year. 

Amrita Julka

President, Associated Students of UC Davis 

During her childhood in rural Georgia, Amrita Julka saw classmates come to school hungry and bought lunch for them. The experience impacts her priorities as president of the Associated Students of UC Davis, which has an annual budget of $24 million and 1,500 hourly employees.

“Basic needs is a very big passion of mine,” said the junior, who is majoring in political science and human development.

Even before the federal government shutdown and its effects on delivery of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits for students, Julka had steeled herself to help meet increasing needs. This academic year, students face more stringent requirements for SNAP (known as CalFresh in California) and the impacts of government cuts to federal financial aid and university research grants, which support student jobs. 

Julka is also working to have the student government:

• help fund Aggie House, a student-led transitional housing shelter
• integrate into the campus Soluna, a state-funded well-being app for teens and young adults in California
• make free testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases available to students who are not on the Student Health Insurance Program

Julka got involved with ASUCD in fall 2023 and has served as a senator and a member of the student health and wellness committee. 

Part of a family that immigrated to the United States from India and now makes their home in San Ramon, California, Julka said she appreciates the experience of minority groups. She is setting up a presidential council with representatives of various student communities to elevate their voices.                                                                                             

Julka, who served as a congressional intern for Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-14) in the summer of 2024, said she intends to go to law school and pursue a career in health policy in the federal government.

Luna Loganayagam

President, Graduate Student Association

Luna Loganayagam, a fourth-year doctoral student in English, leads the Graduate Student Association, representing about 5,000 graduate academic and professional students.

Her priorities include increasing programming for historically marginalized and underrepresented student groups; advocating for students experiencing discrimination; addressing health care concerns; and providing social programming and financial resources for student parents. 

Loganayagam is currently raising awareness of increased graduate student needs around research and travel funding, food equity through the association’s pantry, and safe community spaces. 

She said she expects to formally summit for May’s election two referenda to incrementally increase fees that support those projects and to gain fare-free access to Unitrans for graduate and professional students. 

Loganayagam got involved with student government as the representative of the Graduate Scholars of Color+, a registered student organization, to the association and then as vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion for the association. As president, she has formally established the association’s new community engagement unit under the new name of the Scholars of Color Alliance.

The association plays an important role in helping graduate students feel seen and heard and find community, Loganayagam said. “Our campus is so huge it can be difficult to find your people and ask them to advocate for you,” she added. “Our goal is to have literacy around the institutional makings of UCD and render them visible for our peers.”

Logagnayagam holds two degrees in English, an undergraduate degree from California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt, California, and a master’s degree from Portland State University in Oregon. She also has a certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

This fall, Loganayagam plans to take the qualifying exam that will launch her into her doctoral thesis on games, rituals and the occult as a conceptual worldbuilding engine. 

Emiliano Nolasco

Student Advisor to the Chancellor

When Emiliano Nolasco started at UC Davis three years ago, he would not have thought he has what it takes to be one of two undergraduate student advisors to Chancellor Gary S. May. The human development major is from a low-income background and will be the first in his family to complete a four-year college degree.

Now, Nolasco is helping foster communications between students and the administration, listening and responding to student issues, and advocating on behalf of his peers. He meets at least monthly with the chancellor.

“Being in this position, I’m serving my people,” he said. “It puts a different weight on my shoulders.” 

Nolasco has his eyes set on a master’s degree in education administration and a career leading student programs in high school or higher education. He said he got a taste for it when he was asked to teach guitar in an after-school program at his high school in Richmond, California. “I like that feeling of being the mentor and the big brother students may not have,” said Nolasco, who has three younger siblings.

He has already served as a peer advising counselor; vice president of the Multicultural Greek Council; and fundraising chair of Gamma Zeta Alpa, a Latino interest fraternity on campus. 

Nolasco participated in the Special Transitional Enrichment Program, or STEP, and has paid it forward as a mentor in the same summer program, which helps incoming first-year students get a headstart on success at UC Davis. He wants to do more by focusing his work and its independent project helping get information and resources to new undergraduates, especially first-generation college students. 

Mi’Zauni Reese

Student Advisor to the Chancellor

Mi’Zauni Reese discovered the power of language on the steps of the police department in her community of Novato, California. At just 16, she spoke at a rally decrying the killing of George Floyd in 2020. 

Now a senior double majoring in political science and African and African American studies, Reese is expanding her advocacy for the Black community to serve all students at UC Davis. 

“This is a serious thing I’ve taken on,” she said. “I want to uphold the reverence of the position. I feel honored to be a voice for our students and community.”

In 2024, Reese founded Boldly Black Women, a student organization empowering Black women through community building, advocacy and cultural celebration. Today, she serves as vice president of the Black Pre-Law Student Association. 

Reese also was a student researcher at the Transformative Justice in Education Center on campus, where she worked on a project investigating barriers to equitable representation for Black students in schools receiving federal funds to help students from low-income families. 

One of Reese’s priorities is to foster mentorship. The first-generation college student envisions starting a program that recruits juniors and seniors to mentor entering students. “Not everyone knows how to navigate college.”

Once dreaming of becoming the first Black female president of the United States, Reese plans to earn a law degree and pursue a legal or political career.

Denise Yamhure Ramirez

Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Chancellor

Denise Yamhure Ramirez is busy as a bee as graduate student advisor to Jean-Pierre Delplanque, vice provost and dean of Graduate Studies, and Chancellor Gary S. May. But you could say that’s almost second nature for her.

You see, the doctoral student of population biology studies how differences in the brains of male and female orchid bees — known as the “jewels of the rainforest” for their brilliant metallic colors — explain their behavior.

Yamhure Ramirez, an international student from Colombia, came to UC Davis to pursue her doctoral degree with Santiago Ramirez, a professor of evolution and ecology. Ramirez earned his bachelor’s degree in biology about 25 years ago from the same school where Yamhure Ramirez received hers: Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.

“There are certain cultural connections that support me as an international Ph.D. student,” she said.

Yamhure Ramirez said she is eager not only to serve graduate students and act as a liaison with administration, but also to use the opportunity for her own professional development. “I want to expand my skills with a new challenge.”

In a self-selected project that is part of the job, Yamhure Ramirez plans to identify and implement ways to help graduate students expand their project management skills to become betters prepared and more competitive in the job market — from academia to industry, and nonprofits to startups. She is considering using workshops focused on a cohort of students or even a course.

Yamhure Ramirez said she is pursuing a career in which she can support university research and education by putting her energy into the people, not the system. She earned a master’s degree in population biology from UC Davis in 2022 and anticipates completing her doctoral degree in 2027.