Deborah White
Why did you choose to create a scholarship at SUNY Geneseo?
I created the scholarship for my mother, Eula T. White, because she graduated from Geneseo in 1939 and was on the Library School Faculty from approximately 1961 to 1975. Geneseo was huge part of our lives. When I was first in grade school, my mother’s office was connected by a tunnel to my school (Holcomb). As I got older, as a faculty child, I swam in the pool, ate in cafeteria occasionally and had other benefits related to the college; it was quite an awesome way to grow up! I felt that my family needed to give back to a place that was so important in our lives and help a student who wasn’t as lucky as I was!
What should we know about him/her/them?
My mother was way before her time as far as expectations for women and education. She was in the army, used the GI Bill to get her Masters in Library Science at Michigan and owned and ran a resort store on Conesus Lake in the late 50’s to early 60’s. She then returned to teaching once I was born. She was very motivated, and always wanted to learn. She loved to travel and experience different cultures. Education was everything!
What would you want the recipients of this scholarship to know about the person for whom it is named?
My mother’s mother died when she was 5 and although her dad was in the picture, she was raised by several aunts who were all went to college and were teachers so that was important to our family (I graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA in 1977 and I was third generation college educated, really rare!!). She was the first woman School Board Member at Geneseo Central School and always a leader in the community, looking for ways to help women and promote education.
Tell us about your Geneseo memory, favorite tradition, or what Geneseo has meant to you or to the person who started this scholarship?
Geneseo was a wonderful town to grow up in. The college made the town more diverse, exciting with many events and opportunities for us to experience. I could walk anywhere, went to my first concert on campus and we went to many of shows that the Drama Department put on which were very well done! Think the best part was that it was a very safe environment to learn, experiment and grow up!
What do you hope recipients gain through this scholarship?
My mother would be thrilled to help a woman student to further their education and not have to worry about the finances, I believe that my mother did have to worry about that and she never forgot that!