- Donna Rice Hughes
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This article is about Donna Rice Hughes. For other people with the name Donna Hughes, see Donna Hughes (disambiguation).
Donna Rice Hughes Born Donna Rice
January 7, 1958Nationality American Ethnicity Caucasian Citizenship United States Alma mater University of South Carolina Known for President and chair of Enough Is Enough Donna Rice Hughes (born January 7, 1958) is the president and chair of Enough Is Enough, an American non-profit organization in the anti-pornography movement that seeks to make the Internet safer for families and children. Earlier, she was the key figure in a widely-publicized 1987 political scandal that ended the second campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States of Gary Hart amid allegations of marital infidelity, after the pair were photographed aboard the yacht "Monkey Business" which was owned by prominent Miami businesswoman/socialite Lillian Briggs, "The Queen of Rock & Roll" in the 1950's. Since the mid-1990s, Rice has worked as an anti-pornography activist.
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Early years
The daughter of a highway engineer and secretary, Donna Rice spent her childhood in Florida, Georgia (in Atlanta), and South Carolina. She began a modeling career at age 13 and maintained a high grade point average in high school while also attending church services and working part-time as a clothing store sales clerk.
Rice graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1980, where she was both an honors student and cheerleader. Of her senior year, she said: "I began to compromise my Christian values — partying and dating guys who weren't Christians."[1] After she graduated from the university, Rice stopped attending church services.
Rice has stated that she was a victim of rape (by an older man she had been dating), and also of having been too ashamed to report the incident. She says the rape was "the turning point in my life, the catalyst that propelled me further into an unhealthy lifestyle".[1] She entered and won the Miss South Carolina World beauty pageant, and went on to New York City to compete in the national pageant. While she did not win, she remained in New York to pursue an acting and modeling career.
After a relative lack of success in New York City, Rice moved to Miami, where she worked as a television commercial actress for a pharmaceutical company and a small marketing business, as well as appearing in an episode of the TV series Miami Vice. In March 1987, she met former Senator Gary Hart at a Miami fundraiser.[1]
Gary Hart scandal
Photo of Donna Rice sitting on the knees of Gary Hart on the yacht Monkey Business, the climactic image that ended Hart's second 1988 presidential campaign.
Soon after meeting Rice, Hart announced that he would run for nomination as the Democratic candidate for President. Having enjoyed a surprisingly strong campaign in 1984 against the eventual nominee, former Vice President Walter Mondale, he was widely perceived as a front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 1988. However, rumors shortly thereafter began circulating about his having an extra-marital affair, leading the candidate to challenge the media to surveil him, and to also claim that anybody who did so would "be very bored." The day before Hart's dare to the media was to appear in The New York Times, however, two reporters for the Miami Herald observed Rice coming out of Hart's Washington, D.C. townhouse, and their story was published on the same day that his challenge appeared in the Times. While Hart contended that the reporters could have no knowledge of exactly when Rice arrived or why she was there, his popular appeal nevertheless suffered a major blow, and polls taken almost immediately afterward found him to be 10 points behind Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. Two days after their initial story, the Herald obtained a photograph of Rice sitting on Hart's lap in Bimini aboard a luxury motor yacht named Monkey Business lent by socialite, Lillian Briggs. The celebrity tabloid National Enquirer immediately published the photograph, and within five days, Hart had decided to drop out of the Democratic Presidential nomination race.[2][3]
As a result of the scandal, Rice lost her job as a marketing representative for a pharmaceutical company in South Florida.[4] The enormous publicity generated by the Hart scandal resulted in numerous other offers, however, and while she refused most – including one for an appearance in Playboy magazine – she did work as a national spokesmodel for No Excuses jeans until Hart's unsuccessful re-entry into the presidential race in December 1987.[5]
Internet safety
Hughes, President and CEO of Enough Is Enough (EIE), is an author and speaker on Internet safety. Since 1994, EIE created the Internet Safety 101SM program with the Department of Justice and other partners. She is also the executive producer, host, and instructor of the Internet Safety 101SM DVD series.[6]
Hughes has been on national broadcasts including "Dateline", "The Today Show", "The O’Reilly Factor", "The Oprah Winfrey Show", and "20/20".
She co-wrote the story for the May 2000 season finale episode of "Touched by an Angel" that brought the message of Internet dangers and online safety to prime time television and won the Nielsen ratings for its time slot during the May sweeps period. She has a book, "Kids Online: Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace" (Revell, September 1998)[6].
Hughes was appointed by Senator Trent Lott to serve on the Child Online Protection Act (COPA, 1998) Commission and served as co-chair of the COPA Hearings on filtering/ratings/labeling technologies. She also serves on various Internet safety advisory boards and task forces including the 2006 Virginia Attorney General’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force and the 2008 Internet Safety Technical Task Force, formed with MySpace and the U.S. Attorneys General.[6]
Education
Hughes has received numerous awards including the National Law Center for Children and Families Annual Appreciation Award, and the “Protector of Children Award” and Media Impact Award from the National Abstinence Clearinghouse.[6]
Family
Hughes received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is married to Jack Hughes and has two grown step-children, Sean and Mindy, and a grandson, Alexander Briggs.[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Enough Is Enough: Donna Rice Hughes" Interview by Ramona Cramer Tucker, Christianity Today International/Christian Reader Woman magazine, September/October 1996, Vol. 18, No. 5, Page 42
- ^ "Stakeouts And Shouted Questions", By Richard Zoglin, May 18, 1987, Time Magazine
- ^ "Fall from Grace", By Walter Shapiro, May 18, 1987, Time Magazine
- ^ "Donna Rice Hughes says enough is enough", By Amy Debra Feldman, September 12, 2000, Salon Magazine
- ^ "Rice Loses Her Job", The New York Times, December 16, 1987
- ^ a b c d e [1]
External links
Categories:- 1958 births
- American female models
- American Christians
- Living people
- Anti-pornography activists
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