Western Washington University honored student Daryl Allen of Bothell as a Presidential Scholar for the 2007-2008 academic year for the College of Business and Economics at the June 14 commencement.

Presidential Scholar awards honor top students in six colleges, and were instituted during Western’s centennial in 2000 to honor graduates for their service to the university and community. Western has 62 departments within its six colleges.

Allen graduated with a bachelor of arts in accounting and minors in Spanish and business administration. While at Western, he focused on underserved and underrepresented people both locally and abroad. He went on a two-year church mission to Honduras after his freshman year to provide service related to religious education, literary training, overcoming addiction, family relations and goal setting. When he returned, Allen used his Spanish-language skills to help immigrants in Whatcom and Skagit counties by serving as a medical interpreter. He also worked for Whatcom Land Trust and for an English language learner program.

Allen also volunteered for The Whatcom Dream, a local nonprofit organization devoted to helping people in the community through financial education and other opportunities. He created The Next Step Scholarship so people who successfully participated in Whatcom Dream’s programs would be able to return to school, acquire job training or gain professional certification. Through his efforts with Whatcom Dream, more than $1,200 has been raised and his first scholarship recipient returned to community college to pursue her associate’s degree.