UC Berkeley sophomore Aaron Bryce Lee announced his independent campaign for the ASUC Senate Tuesday evening.

A political science major, Lee has worked under political figures such as U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, and California Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, and he is currently a policy director for ASUC Senator Taehan Lee. He plans to strengthen representation for Asian identity-based communities, promote campus student-based innovation and enhance funding accountability between student organizations, the ASUC and campus administration.

Aaron Bryce Lee emphasized the need for better representation of the Korean American and Korean international communities, continuing with Taehan Lee’s independent campaign platform during the last ASUC election. He will use his campaign and potential senatorship to build alliances between East Asian American, East Asian international and Asian Pacific Islander ASUC organizations.

“Last ASUC elections, (Taehan Lee) really emphasized his independent status as a means to … work without bounds,” Aaron Bryce Lee said. “The independent candidacy really allows me not to restrict myself to one single community.”

With a deep investment in identity-based clubs, Aaron Bryce Lee hopes to act as a liaison between ASUC regulatory bodies and student organizations, so student organizations can “really focus on what they want to do on campus.”

Also part of Aaron Bryce Lee’s campaign is improving financial accountability between the campus and ASUC. Lee wants to streamline the ASUC funding appropriations system, making it more transparent and geared toward student needs by involving more club executives in the campus administration’s funding process.

Within the same platform, Aaron Bryce Lee plans to facilitate “intrapreneurial” innovation within the campus community, such as by giving students the opportunity to provide solutions to specific campus problems and promoting student-made technology.

“He is representing a different population, different demographics that might (not) be represented by a party,” said Irene Chi, Aaron Bryce Lee’s campaign manager. “He’s not influenced by other motivations or other agendas.”

Voting for the ASUC elections will be held April 9–11.