Victor Allen served his country in the Army. Now, he is serving his community, and it is getting recognition.

The NE adjunct instructor and retired Army sergeant major was presented his third Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from then-President Joe Biden in October.

Allen has been recognized for his willingness to serve and protect his fellow soldiers, but this award acknowledges his contributions to the community off the battlefield.

He formed a Military Community Relations Program that provided motivational speaking and mentoring for over 16,000 at risk kids for eight years.

“I noticed that when I used to go to career days at different schools, the kids, they were always scared of the future,” Allen said. “So, I said I have to expand on this.”

After graduating with a master’s degree in social work from UTA, he applied to work as an adjunct for TCC’s mental health program in 2020. This was when Angela Shindoll, program manager for the department at the time, was introduced to Allen, whom she considers the most compassionate and caring person she’d ever worked with.

“He’s incredibly good at connecting with students,” Shindoll said. “His ability to express compassion when it’s needed is clear because I’ve seen him do it with students others found challenging to work with.”

Allen teaches ethics for NE’s mental health department, but he is also an instructor for the substance abuse counseling and social work program.

“He’s created that sense of spark with several of our students who needed someone, who had experienced similar challenges, to be an extra boost of confidence,” Shindoll said.

During his Army years, Allen learned how to be a military leader. After retiring, he learned his authoritative style wouldn’t reach others in the way he wanted to. So, he created a new way to guide people through what he calls command presence.

“You have to take yourself down to meet people where they are … to have sincere empathy because you never know the travels others have endured to get here,” Allen said.

He said his focus is to humanize academia by removing his authority from the classroom and teaching students at their level.

“I had a student say she never thought someone of my status would care about her,” he said. “I had to make her understand I could have it all here today and lose it all tomorrow. That stuff doesn’t matter.”

Former TCC student Bryan Popp views Allen as a mentor. Their relationship began when Popp returned to college after his battle with substance abuse and addiction. Because Popp came from a military background himself, the two quickly formed a close bond.

He described Allen’s teaching as similar to military structure. There was always a goal for the end of each class, and Allen firmly guided students to complete it together.

The difference was the insight students gained after.

“Instead of just sitting in lectures, we were able to open up and learn different perspectives from different members of our groups through the various projects we had,” Popp said. “We’d be doing inner work and having self-reflection on a day-by-day basis.”

Some of the projects included role-playing exercises, reflective in-class discussions and team-collaboration exercises. These assignments could run until the end of class, but according to Popp, Allen would stay hours after to allow students to continue conversing without interruption.

“He didn’t have to do that, but he wanted to,” Popp said. “It’s that type of humility that attracted me to him.”

Allen’s approach to teaching is inspiring to his colleague Michelle Burris, an adviser for the Students in Recovery Club.

“The commitment to what he does, even as a part-time employee, he doesn’t let that part-time piece limit what he contributes,” Burris said. “That’s a remarkable attribute.”

As an adjunct, Allen teaches one to two classes a semester, but he dedicates time to ensuring his students are prepared for whatever may lie ahead.

“Our students are getting some of the best education from him, support from him and guidance in their future,” Shindoll said.

Allen focuses on alleviating students’ stress of the future.

“Everything is a strategy in life,” Allen said. “I’ll try to give them all the academic toolboxes to take with them wherever they go.”

When Allen reflects on his life, he thinks about the Dr. Seuss book ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go.’ He uses them from the book in his teachings to steer students away from focusing on their past.

“There were traumas, there were failures, there were mistakes, there were failed relationships I had which kept me lost in a perpetual state of fear,” Popp said. “It made it very difficult to live in the present moment.”

Allen said mistakes are an important aspect of life and he teaches this by being transparent within the classroom by sharing a few of his own failures with students.

“The mentorship that he’s given me, it’s helped me break out of that fear,” Popp said. “I can see that there’s a light the end of the tunnel.”

Throughout his time at TCC, Allen has accomplished many things, but what he’s learned from the students continues to push him to be better.

“They have taught me that all they need is someone to care for them,” Allen said. “Everyone has a strong inner willpower to get them to the places they will go.”