Mary Virginia Ruff

If Mary Ruff’s resume doesn’t bowl you over, five minutes of conversation with her surely will. This intelligent, articulate Beaufort teen overflows with passion and commitment to the many organizations she’s involved in and has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in her favorite cause: youth literacy and academic freedom.

     “Education is so important,” Mary says. “It’s built my character. I’ve been fortunate to grow up in a privileged environment, and through reading I’ve learned about different experiences. My parents always encouraged me to think independently and critically, and I read a lot when I was little. So the idea of books being taken away is frightening.”

     Mary doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She’s served as vice president of Beaufort High School’s chapter of the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (DAYLO) for the past two years and has become the most visible member of DAYLO’s current student leaders. Her inspiring advocacy for the right to read freely has included speaking before the Beaufort County and South Carolina boards of education, writing op-ed articles on youth advocacy and intellectual freedom for the Charleston Post and Courier, and being featured in a nationally broadcast Nick News segment on youth advocacy. During her junior and senior years, she represented DAYLO in nationally live-streamed panel discussions for Banned Books Week, highlighting the importance of student-led pro-literacy advocacy. More recently, Mary represented DAYLO as the only student invited to participate in a collaborative virtual press conference, featuring the S.C. ACLU, Authors Against Book Bans, EveryLibrary, and PEN America.

     “I feel the need to speak up for actual change to occur,” Mary says. “It’s important to put actions into our words. Students are the ones impacted by school book bans, and a lot of people think it’s important to hear from us.”

“Mary is a genuine action hero,” says the Pat Conroy Literary Center Executive Director Jonathan Haupt, who serves as DAYLO’s out-of-school advisor. “Her decisive actions in leadership and in advocacy for democratic freedoms make her a constant source of inspiration and empowerment to her peers and to all of those fortunate enough to be in her orbit.”

     Mary continued her advocacy work last summer as a delegate to the prestigious Palmetto Girls State program in Columbia, where her peers selected her as a senator. Along with that honor came the opportunity to sit at the office desk of S.C. Senator Tom Davis of Beaufort and write him a detailed note advocating academic freedom and the need to adhere to democratic legislative processes when addressing attempts at education censorship.

     “Mary courageously takes every new opportunity to step up — often outside of her comfort zone — and to advocate for thoughtful, nonpartisan, democratic engagement with public education challenges directly impacting students,” Jonathan says. “She models the principles of servant leadership and shows her fellow students what a young person’s perspective can bring to a difficult issue, and why it matters so much to use your voice and speak out. In complicated and often perilous times, she is a bright and welcoming beacon of hope.”

     Mary continues to be actively involved in DAYLO’s community services programs, including the monthly Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud at the Port Royal Farmers Market and the popular Beaufort Human Library community collaboration. She also volunteers with Interact Club, including a mentoring program at Coosa Elementary School, where she’s helped third through fifth grade students create a skit about littering and write a book about core values. That work helped her earn the Exchange Club of Beaufort’s Youth of the Month award last September. Mary also is active in the youth group at St. John’s Lutheran Church and is vice president of her school chorus.

NEXT STEPS
     Mary graduates this month from Beaufort High School as class valedictorian and student body president. This fall will find her on the campus of Duke University, where she plans to double major in economics and public policy on a prelaw track. Her stint as president of Beaufort High’s mock trials club — in addition to growing up as the daughter of two attorneys — has already given her insight into a legal career. In fact, she freely credits her parents with leading her to the path she’s on now.

     “I have really awesome parents who instilled leadership values in me,” Mary says. “I have a very strong conscience. I feel guilty if I don’t put my full effort into what I sign up for.”