Photo Courtesy/St. Bonaventure University
By: Elizabeth Egan, Features Editor
As Deandre Allen began to settle in for his American Advertising Federation class, he was interrupted by Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication, asking him to come chat in the hall.
Chimbel led Allen, a senior strategic communications major with a marketing minor, over to the wall in Murphy where past Mark Hellinger Award winners are displayed. Chimbel pointed to the vacant space under last year’s recipient and said to Allen, “That’s going to say Deandre Allen.”
“My eyes lit up, and I just remember smiling, screaming “What!”, and hugging Dean Chimbel,” Allen said. “So many amazing alumni have won this award before me and went on to do great things and lead great careers. To follow in their footsteps is an honor.”
Besides receiving the Hellinger Award, given annually as the faculty’s recognition of the most notable graduating student, Allen also received the Mosser award, given for outstanding achievement in the strategic communication curriculum.
“When I found out I got the Mosser Award I felt such a sense of fulfillment and joy,” Allen said. “It’s an award I aspired to win since my freshman year.”
Allen noted that people might be surprised to learn the Mosser award means even more to him than the Hellinger.
“To be recognized as the most outstanding student in my major amongst a lineup of amazing and talented individuals that I have worked with since my freshman year means everything to me,” Allen said. “It feels amazing to see the fruits of my labor.”
During Allen’s time at St. Bonaventure University, he has been involved with The Buzz, the campus radio station, has served as the president for the campus chapter of the American Advertising Federation and participated in the Oxford study abroad program.
Outside of the Jandoli School, Allen has worked several on-campus jobs such as the front desk in the library and serving as a Bonathon caller.
He has also had internships with HEOP (Higher Education Opportunity Program), the College Basketball Times and currently Vetted Solutions.
Mike Jones-Kelly, one of the professors who runs the Oxford program and AAF, has spent a lot of time with Allen during his time at Bonaventure.
“What’s his secret?” Jones-Kelly said. “No secret at all. He’s just a genuinely nice guy who works hard. He is ambitious, but ambitious in the most positive way.”
Jones-Kelly said that if there is one lesson that can be learned from Allen, it is that hard work and happiness can, and should, coexist.
Allen said he does not think he would be the person he is today without the members of the Jandoli School staff that have shaped his experience including, Chimbel, Denny Wilkins, Tara Walker, Rich Lee, Anne Lee, Anna Bulszewicz, Carole McNall and Chris Mackowski.
After graduation, Allen hopes to kick start a career in advertising or return to Bonaventure to get his Masters in Business Administration. He is also an aspiring copywriter and hopes to go to portfolio school.
“I’m not too sure what the future holds for me right now, but the possibilities are endless,” Allen said. “ I know success is at the end of whichever route I choose to take.”
