Harvey Allen served as superintendent of schools in Guthrie, Oklahoma, before he was elected the seventh president of Findlay College. He was the first layman and first professional educator by training to become president. He was only the second president not to have attended or taught at Barkeyville Academy in western Pennsylvania, although in 1903 he did attend the Churches of God's western academy, the Fort Scott Collegiate Institute, in Fort Scott, Kansas. Picking up where President Guyer left off, President Allen made seeking accreditation for the College with the Ohio Colleges Association a top priority. Impeding the College's membership was the expectation in 1926 of at least $500,000 in endowment or a permanent source of income of at least $25,000 a year. Allen began his campaign by inviting a review of the College in 1927 by a team of examiners from The Ohio State University. They suggested improvements to the programs, the academic faculty qualifications and the finances. Allen's consequent plan was for all faculty members to have at least masters' degrees and to acquire new instructors with doctoral degrees.
Allen, who was recognized for his frankness and transparency, recounted much of his efforts in his column in the Findlay College News. A fund drive brought the endowment to $400,000 before the Great Depression in 1929. In an accreditation review, the Ohio College Association (OCA) determined Findlay College did not meet requirements in a number of areas, and in a double blow, as a result of the OCA report, the Ohio Department of Education also withdrew its accreditation of Findlay's teacher training program. President Allen promptly announced his resignation in June of 1929, pleading for the Church of God to support the college and accreditation while releasing some of its control and encouraging the faculty to work toward attaining doctoral degrees. He returned to Oklahoma and served as chancellor of Tulsa University. During World War II he joined the U.S. Navy serving as a pharmacist's mate, first class at San Diego Naval Hospital.