Mary Elizabeth Bruce
Mary Elizabeth Bruce’s real education began not at her high school in suburban Ohio or even her first year at U.Va., but in an elementary school classroom in Washington, D.C. She spent a year before college working with AmeriCorps in inner-city schools plagued by poverty. “Some of the 10-year-olds that I knew wouldn’t graduate from high school. Some would be victims of violence and wouldn’t even see their 18th birthdays,” Bruce (Col ’04) says. “I knew that I wanted to study something that would help me address these very real problems.”
Mary Elizabeth Bruce
Bruce arrived at U.Va. with clear academic goals around which she built a curriculum that dealt with social and economic inequality related to race, gender and poverty. “Econ 101 didn’t resonate with what I’d been working on,” says Bruce. With the support of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence and mentor Professor Wende Elizabeth Marshall, Bruce earned her degree in a new interdisciplinary field, poverty studies.
Bruce was the co-president of the U.Va. chapter of the National Organization for Women and chair of the Minority Rights Coalition. “Being a white woman in that position was a unique challenge that year where there were conflicts on Grounds related to race and identity,” says Bruce. “A student running for president of student council was assaulted; a graduate student was murdered in her home in an incident of domestic violence; students protested the Cavalier Daily for its portrayal of race issues on Grounds.” In response to these issues, the Minority Rights Coalition helped found Kaleidoscope, a center for cultural fluency at Newcomb Hall, which invites speakers on multiculturalism and provides other diversity-related resources to students.
Bruce helped organize Take Back the Night, an annual march intended to bring light to issues related to domestic violence. “I felt very conscious of what it means to be a woman in our culture; it was a big part of my day-to-day identity,” she says. Bruce worked with the Women’s Center to educate about the role of women leaders at U.Va. She started a women’s running club. She worked to provide resources for women on Grounds. “We had a mechanic come and talk to us about fixing cars. It was information our boyfriends knew and we needed to know,” says Bruce.
“One of the biggest challenges for women in the U.S. remains economic inequality. It is still true that a woman graduating from U.Va. will be paid less than her male counterpart,” says Bruce. “Improving the situation of women will lead the way to a fairer society, healthier children—the list goes on.”
After graduation, Bruce joined the Peace Corps and went to Morocco where she worked at a youth center. Her 27 months in Morocco revealed a different role for women than in the U.S. “One of the smartest girls I tutored was withdrawn from school by her parents because she’d been engaged to marry,” says Bruce. “It was incredibly frustrating to see her opportunities just taken away.”
Bruce continues her work in education with Raising A Reader MA, a Massachusetts affiliate of the national non-profit that promotes children’s literacy in low-income communities. “Children who are provided the tools and resources they need to develop early literacy skills to enter school ready to learn are more likely to graduate from high school, to go to college and to get good jobs.”
Next: Current student Irene Kan, managing editor of the Cavalier Daily
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Comments
Happy to have been one of those 450 women in 1970. I had already completed 2 years at Ohio State, gotten married to a Duke n'ere do well, who had joined the Army for his proverbial kick in the pants. After serving a year in Viet Nam, UVa was kind enough to admit him to the school of Engineering where, 3 years later, he graduated with a 3.8. He beat my 3.5 from the School of Education. At any rate, we went on to successful careers and are retired today. Thank you, UVa, not so much for admitting me, but for taking a chance on my husband! I believe it was something special you did, with no fanfare, for a returning Vet, who at that time were not treated very well. Today we marvel at the difference in respect we give our soldiers vs. Viet Nam days. At least one step in the right direction!
I consider myself a lucky person to have been able to work with Irene on multiple events throughout my time here at UVa, and always appreciate the advice and wisdom she passes on. Her input is definitely invaluable and there is no doubt that she is someone who will be missed after her graduation.
From 9/69 to 5/71, I was a graduate student in the planning program in the Architecture School. The difference in walking across campus in the fall of 1969 when there were no undergraduate ladies to the fall of 1970 when there were 150 admitted was so noticeable. At that time almost half of the student body was graduate students and there were many ladies among them but the addition of undergraduate ladies forever changed UVA. Thank you for recognizing the importance of this change over the past 40 years. 1971 MPUD
After earning both my BA (CAS '84) and MSCE (SEAS '93) at the University, I now own a cow that looks very much like the one in the photograph. Wonderful article.
The women of UVA serve to be an inspiration to all. They are resourceful women who are dedicated to earning their degrees and are committed to using their knowledge to make the lives of others throughout the world better.
Brava, Phyllis!
yes tanya and mama sandra! love it! legacy at its finest. two of the most generous, humble women you will ever meet.
It was inspiring to read the stories of so many pioneers at the University. One area that was not covered was the evolving role of women in the musical life of the University. As the historian of the Virginia Glee Club Alumni & Friends Association, the earliest reference we have to women of the University community participating in Glee Club performances comes in 1944, when a "Madrigal Group" made up of women from the University joined the Glee Club in its fourth annual Christmas concert. The Madrigal Group lasted two seasons, disbanding after the end of World War II, and except for a brief reinstatement in the 1950s there is no further word about a women's choir until the formation of the University of Virginia Women's Chorus in 1974. So while the Glee Club collaborated in virtually every home concert with a women's chorus, they always had to reach outside the University community for their collaborations. It would be great if any of the original members of that Madrigal Group could share their stories. According to the December 15, 1944 "College Topics," they included Kathryn Bell, Barbara Bishop, Phyllis Black, Joyce Blume, Adele Chauvenet, Mary Costello, Virginia Cummings, Nancye Jane Davis, Renee Gretcke, Barbara Harris, Mary Lamb, Jeanne Mills, Margaret Neale, Betty Pritchett, Roberta Richman, Catherine Spencer, Doris Spradlin, Mae Thacker, Virginia Ware, Anna Witt, Mary Broyles, Dudley Burruss, Priscilla Calmer, Calise Chauvenet, Mary L. Forbes, June Kittleson, Betty Newton, Nancy Spicer, Patsy Walker, and Mary Wheat.
The beautiful young woman on the front page of the Cavalier Daily -- who is in the process of moving into Webb dormitiory -- is my wonderful wife and best friend of 39 years, Martha Sandlin Walton. We first met about three days later. Her hair is a little shorter now, but she is still as wonderful and beautiful as she was in 1970!
There are, of course, two beautiful young women (and one helpful young man in a tie!) on the front page. Martha is at the top right. Can anyone identify the others?
I transferred from MWC for Summer, 1965, for Basic Nursing and then graduated with my BSN in 1968. My friend, Bonnie Kiessling and i BROKE tradition [never leaving McKim Hall] and donned our short skirts and beads and went over to the Main Library to study!! We were virtually the only women there and ended up with a huge group of friends...awesome. Also, we tried out for Cheerleading, but were told that UVA just couldn't have women on the squad at that time. We played football against the Architecture school and won the match [my recollection] even though their Center broke my finger when he tackled me, and i had to complete my public health rotation driving around the countryside, despite having had surgery with pins implanted on that hand. UVA as a woman in the early days was a perfect experience and I have had a fabulous career, and am eternally proud of my education and resulting degree. Two of my three children also attended, and it was strange to visit my daughter in the "new dorms" and her sorority house!!
I heartily congratulate Teresa A. Sulllivan. The appointment of a woman president by the University of Virginia represents the capstone of an initiative by civil liberties advocates that began over four decades ago. The Central Virginia Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union was established March 7, 1967 on the initiative of myself (founder and co-chairman) and two junior colleagues. The decision to initiate a lawsuit against the University for gender discrimination was made in 1969 with the appointment of John Lowe as the attorney for the ACLU in his legal action against the University's administration. The decision colloquially referred to as Kirstein vs. The Administration of the University of Virginia was handed down in early 1970. Subsequent investigation by visiting Professor Rachel Moran showed that the Kirstein case was cited precedentially by eleven Circuit Courts and frequently by the U.S. Supreme Court in subsequent co-education litigations. Mary Ellen Whitney played a key role in the success of the Kirstein suit. She was terminated as a University of Virginia employee in June of 1970 and was never again employed at an academic post.
As a first years woman in 1970, I was unaware of the import of the changes coming to U.Va. I chose The University over others to which I was accepted primarily because it was the best "horse country!"
My wonderful wife, Elizabeth Anne Allen, was among those first yearwomen in 1970, having transferred in from The American School in Lugano, Switzerland. I was a fourth year that year, but I did not meet her until after I graduated and took a job at a bank. And there she was. We've been married for forty years.
As a young child I lived on Copeley Hill as my father and mother, both WWII veterans, completed their degrees at UVa. My father was a Mechanical Engineering student, while my mother, Marjorie T. Austin, got her degree in Education. We were on Copeley Hill from 1949 to 1953.
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