This past January, Ashton Lee, President of PSU’s Korean American Student Association (KASA), took a trip to Washington D.C. in a delegation of students to lobby for Asian-American interests in Congress.
Lee’s mission was to uplift the Korean-American community through civic engagement and grassroots organizing in support of Korean-American issues.
By getting the chance to meet with lawmakers and experts in policy, these student representatives were striving to raise awareness about key issues affecting Asian-Americans.
The Korean American Grassroots Conference (KAGC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping uplift the Korean-American community through different forms of civic participation, according to the KAGC Policy Priorities of the 119th Congress.
“KAGC bridges the grassroots to Capitol Hill by educating members and staff of Congress on Korean American policy priorities, as well as assisting its 30 partner organizations to develop and implement civic education and voter registration programs across the United States,” the document reads. “In order to equip and empower our community members to become active participants and effective advocates, KAGC serves as the central resource hub by providing up-to-date information and analyses on the Korean American electorate, priority issues, and policy development.”
Lee was chosen alongside 30 other students from a variety of different Universities in a competitive application process to advocate for the Korean-American community.
Student representatives begin their proposals by stating their mission in regards to the Korean-Americans in Oregon.
Lee had the opportunity to speak to the first Korean American Senator, Andy Kim, and asked him a question relating to how university students make up one of the biggest populations of non-voters—and how they, as student leaders, can improve community and policy engagement within campus.
“His response to that was to take advantage of soft power and educate whenever given the chance,” stated Lee. “So, within KASA’s events, we always try to connect it to something more significant.”
These student representatives spoke for the Asian-American community and talked about different policies they wanted to focus on—the group also had a chance to speak to Senator Jeff Merkley’s representative, Vlad Salas Moreno, who is the legislative correspondent.
The three policies mentioned are as follows: the start of a new session of Congress, consider sponsoring two bills that were introduced in the 118th Congress if they drop this session, co-sponsor the Divided Families National Registry Act, and co-sponsor the Minority Entrepreneur Grant Program Act of 2023.
Opportunities for students, such as the Minority Entrepreneur Grant Program, help support the Asian-American community in Portland.
“The Minority Entrepreneur Grant basically allows small businesses to expand other programs which will allow Korean American owners or other minority owners to have more resources which is really important,” said Lee.
This initiative reflects a much broader effort that is being made to address systemic barriers that many minority entrepreneurs are facing.
“The lack of representation, especially since KASA was down for so long, I feel like there wasn’t a strong community like other campuses,” Lee said. “It’s definitely something we are lacking but we are trying to grow that community and that sense of comradery which has been something that’s been our goal this year.”
The result of COVID-19 had many communities at PSU suffering because of the distance that was created within student associations.
“With our latest event, Squid Games, we talked about what the show represented in Korea and how Korea can use media like that one to show off bigger and more critical issues,” Lee said.
PSU’s KASA encourages students looking to get more involved in the community to attend their events that are being held regularly in Smith Memorial Student Center at PSU.
