Meet Pepperdine University’s esteemed junior class president! He’s a great leader, passionate about what he believes in, and is only a hair shy of becoming the next major politician. With big dreams and ambitions, what’s stopping him from climbing the ladder to a success? Nothing at all. However, what makes this week’s candidate for Campus Celebrity special is not only his drive to implement change, but also his humility and understanding of what it truly means to be human. Without further delay, I’d like to introduce you to President Omari Allen.
Majors: Political Science and French
Hometown: Originally from Langhorne, Pennsylvania and now in Tyrone, Georgia (about 30 minutes away from Atlanta)
Relationship Status: Single
Favorite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Ghandi
What made you want to pursue presidency? What was the passion and drive behind that?
“When I’m put into a new environment, I try to adapt to that environment by analyzing and assessing, “What is it I can to do to make this place better by the time that I leave?” I think that comes from my dad who always told me to leave a space better than the way I found it. Typically, he meant this for when we were cleaning our rooms or the kitchen, but I found that teaching to take on a new meaning in my life. For instance, when I moved to Atlanta, I also ran for class president for my high school. I did this not knowing anyone, not knowing the area, not knowing names, but I knew that I wanted to do something that allowed me to not only represent the students that I had become friends with but also to push the school into a new legacy. I felt the same when I came here. That’s why, freshman year, I was a senator before going to DC. Coming back from DC, I realized that I wasn’t done yet. There were things that I started Freshman year that I wanted to continue. Ultimately, what makes me most passionate and motivated is the idea that I can make a difference on behalf of my peers.”
Describe a life-changing moment that made you who you are today.
“I would definitely say moving to Atlanta. I lived in Pennsylvania for fourteen years, and that experience was all that I really cared about. I didn’t want to move at all. I was just getting out of 8th grade and about to go with all of my friends into high school, and I was so excited. The high school I would’ve gone to was a big school. It was a very typical American school with the football team, cheerleaders, music programs, and the big marching bands. It was like a High School Musical type of thing. I was so excited for that. However, what I didn’t realize until I moved to Atlanta, was that I had lived as a minority for a long time. I hadn’t really been aware of that until I moved to Atlanta where, specifically where I live now, it was predominantly African-American, and that kind of threw me off. It’s interesting that it was a culture shock because I am African-American, but it was. I didn’t know what to do, and I felt as if I couldn’t relate. I felt like they wouldn’t like me, so it created this uncomfortable feeling that I had to really push through. I think that also played into why I did the class presidency campaign because it pushed me to force myself to try to go out of my comfort zone. Coming from Atlanta, my eyes were opened a little bit more, and I think I gained more of my identity.”
Who inspires you most and why?
“People inspire me. People’s stories inspire me a lot, and that comes from so many different things. From a family perspective, the person who inspires me most frequently would be my father. From a celebrity perspective, I would say Oprah and president Obama. From a broader perspective, I would definitely say people – those that I’ve been able to have the chance to sit down and talk with. I’m a big advocate of sitting down and listening to people’s stories. I’m a private person, so I don’t really tell a lot of people my business, but I love hearing other people’s business (lol)! I would definitely say I’ve learned a lot from people’s stories, encounters, and life experiences. They’ve really helped to shape my worldview and perspectives.”
What is your dream? What and who do you want to be? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“In ten years, I hope that I am waking up everyday doing something that I love – that I’m waking up everyday knowing that what I’m doing is affecting people that have come through the same experiences as me, as well as others. The reason why I have been so passionate about education and criminal justice reform is because those are two arenas that affect young African-American males. I didn’t realize how far my interests went until I went to DC this past year. I could easily say that I care about health care, and the economy, and whatnot, but the things that I found myself drawn to were education and criminal justice reform. In ten years, I hope that I am affecting the lives of other young African-American males like me.”
What is your guilty pleasure?
“I would say that my guilty pleasure, lowkey, is the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Yeah, I don’t tell many people that. I’m okay with this being publicized… I guess (lol).”
What song describes you best?
“Donny McClurkin’s “We Fall Down”. The song talks about how we fall down, but then get back up. I would say that that would be the one that describes me the most, but it also describes a lot of people.”
You’re in a zombie apocalypse, what’s your survival plan?
“I’d stay with my family. They’re zombies so technically, they’re dead. In that case, I guess my weapon of choice would probably be Febreze. I feel like I can run away from a zombie and they don’t even have any super powers. Also, I can spray that in their eyes if need be.”
What were you for Halloween?
“I was a good-looking, single surgeon for Halloween.”
What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
“I don’t think a lot of people know how insecure I can be. I tend to play up a lot of the outside – I like to make people smile and to make them feel good – but I don’t think people know that sometimes, when I go back to my room and am all alone, I’m not always Mr. Goof. Recently, I was with friends and something had happened and I was like “It scares me how you guys are just able to laugh at my pain like that” and they were like “Well Omari, you make it so easy. You let us do that.” I didn’t realize that I did that. Often times, I smile things off and act like things aren’t really that big of a deal, but I do think about what people say and how I portray myself. Some people don’t know how much I take what people say into consideration and I think that caused a development of insecurities. I’ve championed most of those insecurities. I believe that you can’t be completely insecure and also hold certain positions, but I do know that they’re there.”