Aasim Yahya, a UC Berkeley junior, is running for ASUC external affairs vice president as an independent candidate on a platform rooted in democratizing civic engagement at the campus, city and state levels.
With a drive to support grassroots, community-led advocacy, Yahya is running an independent campaign because it provides an avenue of greater flexibility and autonomy to be responsive to community needs.
“We need to fundamentally re-envision the way we approach advocacy to ensure that we are fighting with students, not necessarily for them,” Yahya said in an email. “In order to do so, we must leverage our institutional resources to amplify and support the work of community organizers and leaders.”