Calling All Asian American Politicos

As politicians attempt to churn out the vote for the upcoming national elections, a student group is trying to churn out Asian American candidates in campus-wide elections.

The Asian American Association (AAA) created the Asian American Political Initiative this year as a support network for students interested in running for leadership positions in a number of organizations, including the Undergraduate Council (UC) and the Institute of Politics (IOP).

“I feel like for any student who is involved in IOP or UC, that is a great preparation for a career in politics,” said Sanby Lee ’08, co-president of AAA. “We want them to have the encouragement and support to be involved in the community and beyond that.”

The group’s aim is to increase diversity among these organizations and to create a future generation of Asian American leaders.

“Diversity is important overall to provide different points of view and to represent the student body,” said Susan Y. Yao ’09, AAA educational and political co-chair. “As for Asian Americans, part of it is because I think they are stereotyped as not being politically active. I think it’s important for us to change that because we know many politically motivated Asian Americans.”

While the organization hopes to increase Asian American activism in national politics in the future, its current priorities lie in increasing Asian American activism on campus.

“Right now, our focus has been student politics because it has been the first year of the organization,” said Edward Y. Lee ’08, one of the coordinators of the new initiative and vice-chair of the UC Finance Committee. “I believe we have students who are going to be future leaders, so I think it’s important to get them to think about what it’s like to run for national and state politics.”

The Asian American Political Initiative held an information session for students interested in running for the UC last month. Potential candidates were taught strategies on how to maximize their chances of winning the election, including where to put posters, how to approach people, and ways to reach out to their peers.

They also co-sponsored a tour of the IOP with the South Asian Association earlier this month.

Six out of 35 representatives on the UC this year are of Asian descent, according to Lee, although he did not specify how many of those representatives participated in the group’s training.

The group plans to organize voting drives, discussion groups, and sponsor events featuring politically involved speakers.