Penn State alumnus Brent Rice will run for a seat on the State College Borough Council, he announced Thursday on social media.

Rice was the Speaker of the Assembly for Penn State’s University Park Undergraduate Association and graduated in 2018 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and corporate innovation and entrepreneurship. He worked closely with the Borough through UPUA, especially on the “You Are Welcome Here” banners that hang around downtown State College.

“My campaign is born both out of frustration with the current system and a positive vision for the future that is possible,” Rice said. He chose to run because he feels that his voice, and the community’s voice, has been ignored by many current elected representatives.

Rice currently works for the university’s Division of Development and Alumni Relations as an assistant director of annual leadership gifts. As a student, he was also involved in THON as a finance captain and was a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy.

His platform for the election focuses on six themes he feels will enhance the State College community:

• A government that listens and cares
• An accessible community
• Affordable living
• Innovative ideas
• Transparent decision-making
• Embracing our history

“Since arriving in State College and as a student at Penn State, I have dedicated my time to improving the quality of life of State College community members and Penn State students,” Rice said in a release. “I ask that you join me in my campaign so that we can move State College Forward Together.”

Two other non-incumbents have announced their candidacy so far: Tom Dougherty, a sophomore and the current UPUA Borough Liaison, and Deanna Behring, an assistant dean in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Four seats are up for re-election this year, and the deadline to circulate file nomination petitions was Tuesday, May 12.

The State College municipal primary is slated for Tuesday, May 21. If history is any indication, this election will be all but decided in the Democratic primary.