The ‘Bama Barbie,’ Olandria Carthen, is making a return to her alma mater Tuskegee University for an upcoming school event. Carthen will be the special guest at the Tuskegee University Student Activities Board and Career Education Leadership Development Center's Back 2 School Kickoff at Chappie James Arena.
The Decatur native was a fan favorite on this past season of Peacock’s Love USA, winning over the viewers with her beauty and charm. In the first episode of the season, she gave her alma mater a shoutout as well as mentioned that she is a first-generation college graduate. But she went into more detail about why she chose to attend an HBCU during her TikTok live earlier this month.
“Literally the best five years of my life, literally,” she said. “And a lot of people will ask, like, ‘Well, why would you choose to go to an HBCU?' I'm like, ‘I have the rest of my life to be a minority. I wanted to see how it felt to be the majority when I walk around and wake up and everybody looks like me. You know, the rest of my life I have to be a minority. But it truly felt good to be a part of the majority.”
Alongside Chelly Bissainthe, she was one of the season's first two islanders. She was first matched with another original cast member, Taylor Williams, and the two had a connection that lasted throughout the course of the show.
Following the surprise of Casa Amor, Williams decided to date Clarke Carraway. Carthen was left without a partner twice throughout the series as a result of this: once when she was kicked out of Casa Amor but was then brought back in a shocking turn of events by the producers, and again when Williams moved on, reaffirming his choice at the “Stand On Business” challenge.
Carthen bonded with Nicolas “Nic” Vansteenberghe, and the two of them advanced to the season finale, where they were the runners-up behind Bryan Arenales and Amaya Espinal. The close bond between the two original cast members was widely praised, which led to the development of the “Nicolandria” fan base, which became quite popular on social media during the season.
The event is being held Tuesday, August 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
