Minh Tran ’09 will join the race for the Ward 1 seat on the Board of Aldermen.

Tran, a psychology major and Morse College freshman counselor, will officially announce his candidacy at a campaign kickoff event Sunday. In an interview with the News on Friday evening, Tran declined to comment on the specifics of his campaign platform until his formal announcement, but expressed interest in standing as an “intersection” between Yale and New Haven communities.

“I’ve had an amazing three and a half years of venturing outside the ‘Yale bubble,'” Tran said. “Now, I want to bring about more interaction between Yalies and local New Haven people.”

Tran, a Dwight Hall public school intern and founder of the Yale Inter-Religious Leadership Council, was born in Vietnam and has lived in Los Angeles since he was 10 years old. In addition to dancing for the Konjo! African dance troupe, Tran has served a variety of roles on a smattering of Yale commissions, including the Freshman and Sophomore class councils, the Morse College Council and the Yale College Dean Search Committee.

He is the third candidate — and the first upperclassman — to enter the Ward 1 aldermanic race; Mike Jones ’11 became the first official candidate last month, and Katie Harrison ’11 announced her candidacy last Wednesday.

Tran said he has been “running on pure adrenaline” since deciding to run for the Board of Aldermen one week ago and scrambling to obtain the requisite filing forms. So far, Tran said he has a campaign staff of more than a dozen, including co-campaign managers James Berry ’12 and Scott Nelson ’10.

Though his decision to run for the aldermanic seat was a recent one, Tran decided at the end of his junior year that he would live in New Haven for several years after graduating from Yale College. Tran is currently the state senior director of the Connecticut Academic Decathlon. Additionally, he will be working in a local school as part of the Teach for America program after graduating.

With regards to his two opponents — Jones and Harrison — Tran said he is “excited for a spirited and positive campaign that will encourage the exchange of ideas.”

“More than anything, I think that all this competition will give more gravity to this position,” Tran said.

Tran will officially announce his candidacy Sunday at 4 p.m. in room 101 of Linsly-Chittenden Hall.