COMMUNITY PROFILES IS A WEEKLY SERIES THAT APPEARS EACH MONDAY AND DELVES INTO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN SANTA MONICA. Maneuvering for a bigger office
THIRD STREET — While traveling along the road to success, there are many detours that can throw one off track, but not Ben Allen. The Santa Monica native seems to have his GPS system locked in and his determination set to four-wheel drive as he has swiftly and skillfully outmaneuvered the competition to become the 33rd student to serve on the University of California Board of Regents, where he will set policy and help guide the state’s public universities for the 2007-08 school year. But Allen isn’t stopping there. He’s merely filling up his public policy tank to continue his journey, which might one day land him in an elected office, perhaps mayor of Santa Monica.
“Well, I’m not ready to declare my candidacy just yet,” Allen, 28, a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge universities said jokingly during an interview last month, just after being selected as the next student regent, beating out 73 others. “The reason that I moved back to California (from Washington, D.C.) is that I wanted to get involved in public policy, public affairs here. I had been working as a press secretary for (Congressman) José Serrano from the South Bronx, but I wanted to come back home, stay here and build a career here.
Allen, who is a second-year law student at U.C. Berkeley’s prestigious Boalt Hall, said he isn’t sure what his first campaign for public office will be. He’s more concerned about preparing for his duties as a regent — and then there’s that whole war crimes tribunal he’s got to do first.
Today, Allen is in Tanzania, where he is working as a judicial clerk for the United Nations in a court created to try the alleged masterminds of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, during which an estimated 800,000 to 1.1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered by extremist militia groups during a 100-day period as the international community opted not to intervene.
“I am very interested in studying international law, administrative law and government institutions,” Allen said. “But I guess what I’m really looking to study is how something as atrocious like this can go on right in front of our eyes and we fail to act. The job of our elected officials and of good public policy, is to prevent events like these from occurring.”
Just before he was to fly to Africa for the summer, Allen spent an hour with the Daily Press to talk about his goals as a regent, his stint as Captain Hook at Samohi, and what he expects to take away from Tanzania HOW DOES ONE BECOME A REGENT?
Being selected was a total surprise in the sense that it was a competition and I won. I put an application in back in February. They ask for you to do three essays and complete a long application process, and then they chose 20 people from across the state to be interviewed. That’s just the first round. After that, the pool is winnowed down to 10, then three. I actually interviewed with the two other finalists (May 22) at UCLA and I was told then that I would be selected. It’s all very exciting. I still can’t quite believe it. I’m still a little shocked.
You will not be able to vote for your first year as you will be a regent-designate, but you will be able to sit in on all the discussions.
“It’s a time to learn about the process and how it works. But next year (July 2007), I will have the power to vote with the rest of the board and be on par with the rest of the regents, and that of itself, just being in the room with so many accomplished people so early in my career, is a tremendous honor and privilege. It’s also a great challenge that I hope I can live up to.”
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU GOT THE CALL?
“I was actually playing with my niece on a swing set on 17th Street right near Montana (Avenue). As soon as I put her on the swing, I got the call … There was this pause at first and then ‘Congratulations.’ I was so thrilled and it was nice to share the moment with my niece.”
YOUR ROOTS RUN DEEP IN SANTA MONICA.
“I was born and raised here. I went to school at Lincoln (Middle School) and graduated from Samohi as student body president in 1995-96 … I was Captain Hook in ‘Peter Pan’ … My sister-in-law actually teaches Spanish at Samohi. My father is a longtime professor at UCLA in the English Department and my mother also taught Spanish for a long time at Beverly Hills High School. We’ve also been really involved in Santa Monica. I was in troop 2 as an Eagle Scout. All of my siblings went to school here.
We go way back. All of my family still lives here over on 18th and Montana. I try to come back and visit as often as possible. My brother has two little kids now. He serves on the Santa Monica Arts Commission … I’ve been all over the world in the last two years, but I always make it a point to come back here. This is home. I’m involved in planning our 10-year-reunion at Samohi.”
“I have been so fortunate to be given a chance to serve this amazing public university system.”
WHAT WAS SAMOHI LIKE WHEN YOU WERE THERE?
“I loved it there. It’s always had its ups and downs. But I had just a great time. I think it was a microcosm of society. It brought together so many different people. I loved the diversity of it, all the different backgrounds and the dynamic it created. When I was at Harvard, it was so much colder and less inviting and I missed the vitality and diversity of a place like Samohi. I know it’s caused some tension, but I really valued my experiences there and made me grounded. I got to see life through many different eyes … I had some great teachers who really encouraged me to go abroad and that’s when I started working for International Affairs Institute working on Latin American affairs as a press secretary for Jose Serrano from the South Bronx, a senior member of Congress who originated from Puerto Rico. I got a chance to work in the Spanish caucus.”
What were some of the issues you faced as class president at samohi?
“We worked really hard to lower the price of prom tickets of some of our formals because they were just too expensive for a lot of kids. We wanted to create a price so everyone who wanted could go.”
WHAT ISSUES WILL YOU FOCUS ON AS A REGENT?
“Like at Samohi, I’m really concerned about access and affordability. Prices have increased and we need to make sure that the doors of opportunity remain open to all eligible, talented students from across the state from all of our unique communities. That means a lot to me.
“That goes hand-in-hand with looking at the university’s finances and how it raises money. I think we could be doing a much better job at that. We need to be more aggressive in how we raise money through our foundations. I think we need a more aggressive strategy when it comes to our endowments.
“And I’d also like to see the university continue to find outreach programs for under privileged students. We’ve found out these kids have tremendous potential but they just need an extra push or a little help and put it in their minds that they can actually go to college. Those who participate in these outreach programs, 50 percent go on to college whereas only 20 percent of their peers do. The effects of Proposition 209, (which eliminated affirmative action in California) has diluted the number of minority students in the system and I think we need to correct that.
“I also want the university to stay competitive in terms of science programs. I think the future of our nation depends on us staying on top of scientific innovation. The UC system has always been at the forefront in scientific research, study and development. We need to stay there and help the state’s economy grow and evolve.”
You will be heading to tanzania next week to participate in a united nations tribunal involving those believed responsible for the rwandan genocide. What are you expecting? Can you prepare for something like this?
“I’m looking forward to it. It is going to be a fascinating experience. I also think it will be very heavy, watching ‘Hotel Rwanda’and ‘The Ghost of Rwanda,’ it is just sort of horrifying what happened. I’m going to be living every day with that. At the same time, the court itself is located in a fascinating part of the world, in northern Tanzania. If I can, I’d love to get away from the city and explore the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro and experience the culture, wildlife and the natural beauty of it all … I’ve been to Africa before to help with famine relief in Kenya and Somalia. I would like to go out there and do more food distribution, perhaps for a couple of days. I just want to make a difference. There is so much suffering there and, for many people, it is so far off their radar screen. But really, the federal government is the one to blame because they should be placing more of an importance on providing relief. I think once people experience it, they’ll forever be changed by it and want to help.”
WHAT WILL YOUR DUTIES BE AS A CLERK IN THE COURT?
“I will serve about 15 judges, who will preside over many different cases. We’re basically trying the leadership. Most of the common criminals who were involved in the day-to-day killings are also being tried, but in a separate court in the Rwandan judicial system. This court is set up to deal with those who orchestrated the massive killings, handed out the machetes, going on the radio and fanning the flames, making normal people become enraged and hack their neighbors to death. It’s horrific and really a study of man’s inhumanity to man.
“This is so recent. This happened right in front of our noses There is another genocide occurring in Sudan and in using that term there is supposed to be a required reaction from the international community and instead nothing has happened. This goes back to the student regent position and how valuable it is. In the 1980s, a student regent played a critical role in having the UC system divest funds business that were involved in apartheid in South Africa. I believe the student at the time was Fred Gaines. We could put pressure on other businesses to that do work with the Sudanese government so that they in turn could force the Sudanese to stop the killings in the Darfur region.”
Having traveled all over the world, why come back to santa monica?
“I don’t know. I mean, obviously my family is here and a lot of my friends still come back, too. I guess it’s just home for me. The weather is incredible, the people are friendly. I’m still registered to vote here and that won’t change.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 26, 2006. Read the original PDF.