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Home > News & Events > CLA Today Archive > Winter 2003 : Alamars: All in the Family

Alamars: all in the family

by Judy Woodward

For Ben and Amy Alamar, giving is a family tradition. Ben (B.S. '96, economics) is a grandson of the legendary philanthropist Eugene Lang, who once offered to pay college bills for an entire inner-city sixth grade class. Amy (B.A.'97, English and philosophy, summa cum laude) launched her personal record of alumna support with a $10 donation to her elementary school shortly after her eighth grade graduation.

Unlike many newly minted graduates, who are just starting out and may not make financial support for their alma mater an immediate priority, the Alamars have been contributing steadily to the University since earning their degrees.

The Alamars see it this way: The University of Minnesota gave generously to them during their undergraduate years. Now, they say, it's their turn to return the favor. Says Ben, 28, "You can't fund education enough." Amy, 27, adds, "If somebody's given to you, you should give something back.”

For both Alamars, the U was something of a fresh start. Amy was a year behind Ben when they met at a small private high school in Washington, D.C. "I wanted to go to a big school and to break out from the Washington area,” says Amy. On the advice of a friend, she applied to Minnesota—along with a handful of East Coast colleges. Her first acceptance letter came from Minnesota.

Bravely—considering the comparatively balmy climate of her home town—she paid her first campus visit in the frozen heart of February. "I was standing in the middle of the mall, and it was so awesome, looking around at all the snow,” she recalls. "I felt at home and I fell in love with the University of Minnesota.”

Ben spent his freshman year at a different college, but he couldn't resist the alluring combination of Amy and Minnesota. He transferred to the U the next year and started a major in economics, where he found "great professors with great energy for the subject.”

Amy, meanwhile, was trying her hand at what seemed liked every extracurricular activity known to humankind, all the while maintaining grades that eventually earned her CLA's highest honors. She went out for everything from cheerleading, fencing, writing for the Daily, and ballroom dancing to service at the Hillel Center and a part-time job as an admissions ambassador.

Amy relished the wealth of opportunities offered by the U. "I was really adventurous at the U,” she says. "You could try anything, be anybody. I felt supported in everything I did. People say you get lost in a big school, but I found that once you went out to try something, people were so willing to help.”

Philosophy professor John Wallace directed Amy's senior project and sharpened her sense of community service. Wallace recalls his former student as "a very energetic, effervescent young woman, ready to get involved and connect with people.”

One way the Alamars have chosen to get involved is through targeted gifts. A recent donation honored philosophy professor John Dolan, who guided Amy through the rigors of formal logic. She remembers him as "intimidating but awesome.”

College graduation brought another fresh start to the couple. Ben McGrew and Amy Blom, as they were known in college, married and adopted a new last name, Alamar, which they fashioned from the four last names of their parents.

Today they live in San Francisco, where Ben, who earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, works as an economist specializing in international pricing of goods transferred within multinational corporations. Amy works part-time as a teacher and writer while introducing the newest Alamar, Alexander, 22 months, to the family traditions of service and giving—and perhaps one day a CLA education, Class of 2022.