Deb Young Huber ’77
Mike and Deb Huber met at the start of their first year at Dickinson.
Donor Profile
Tell us about your Dickinson experience.
I met my best friend, my husband Mike Huber ’77, during the first evening of Dickinson’s freshman orientation in late August 1973. Our freshman halls were paired up for a social in KW Round Room. My whole hall attended the function as a group. Mike’s roommate didn’t attend, and that was the best luck I ever had, because Mike started talking to me! We found that we had much in common … playing sports, big close-knit families, we loved to laugh and tell stories, we didn’t know anyone at the college yet, and we weren’t sure what we would major in. Our experience together at Dickinson was one of maturation as young adults, both socially and academically. We studied hard, had part-time jobs, played on intramural and intercollegiate sports teams, engaged in Greek life and made many lifelong friends. It was a truly remarkable four years!
Tell us a little about your path after Dickinson.
Mike ultimately majored in history and achieved his goal of attending law school. He went on to Rutgers School of Law, where he graduated in 1980. I double majored in psychology and economics, and after graduation, I was employed with the Social Security Administration until the birth of our first son. When our two sons started attending school full-time, I obtained an elementary teaching certificate from Rowan University and began my next career as a first-grade teacher.
The skills we learned at Dickinson, particularly the communication skills of writing and public speaking, prepared both of us for our chosen career paths. Frankly, our liberal-arts education would have prepared us for so many career paths. Our education also led us to explore subjects outside of our majors, including geology, art history, and Shakespearian and Russian literature. Like most if not all Dickinson graduates, we became lifelong readers and learners.
Why do you feel it’s important to give to Dickinson?
Throughout our marriage, we donated time and treasure to those less fortunate than we were. We sponsored students to help defray tuition costs. I volunteered in aftercare programs in underserved areas. We were both active in our church and community and held leadership positions. Mike was active in mentoring new attorneys, and he served on ethics committees. As a family, we enjoyed playing tennis, touch football, basketball and many board games. We attended countless family and friend gatherings, traveled together and participated in our sons’ activities, including as coaches in soccer and Little League.
Sadly, Mike passed away from cancer in June of 2016. In the time since, I’ve given a lot of thought on how best to honor him and our life together. I have been living with metastatic breast cancer for the past four years, but I am still playing tennis, traveling with friends and family, volunteering with a youth group in Camden, N.J., and enjoying my three little granddaughters who never got to meet their amazing and loving grandfather. Rather than put a gift to Dickinson in my will, I decided to make the gift now and establish a scholarship in our names. The scholarship will be granted to students who are eligible for Pell Grants and have an interest in art history, climate change and sustainability or environmental science, three areas which became very close to our hearts through the work and dedication of our sons and daughters-in-law.
What do you hope your gift will do for fellow Dickinsonians?
I hope that all students who benefit from our scholarship will pursue their interests, stay curious about new possibilities and, eventually, pay it forward. I heard from the development office that Mike and I never missed a year contributing to Dickinson. That seems impossible, because we were always trying to make ends meet in those early years, but then again, Dickinson is where it all started!
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Published June 27, 2022