New Admissions Center Honors Nelle Ratrie Chilton
New UC Admissions Center Honors Morris Harvey Graduate, UC Trustee
Charleston, WV – August 18, 2021 – A new Admissions Center was dedicated on the campus of the University of Charleston on Sunday, August 15, honoring the late Nelle Ratrie Chilton.
The Nelle Ratrie Chilton Admissions Welcome Center was renovated from an old lecture hall in Riggleman Hall over the summer of 2021. It was made possible by the generous support from Chilton’s children in honor of their mother, a Morris Harvey graduate and UC trustee.
Chilton’s four children, her two sisters and many of her grandchildren, nieces and nephews were on hand for the dedication ceremony.
“The new Admissions Welcome Center is a much-needed addition on our Charleston campus,” said UC President Marty Roth. “How fitting to memorialize alumnus Nelle Chilton, who embodied our pillars of productive work, enlightened living, and community involvement throughout her life, by naming the Center in her honor. Her welcoming spirit will surely embrace the next generation of students and future leaders whose first impressions of UC are made in the Nelle Ratrie Chilton Admissions Welcome Center.”
Nelle Chilton was a pioneering spirit, managing the family business and serving on numerous boards. She was passionate about education and lifelong learning and was involved in both the Kanawha County Public Library and the Library Foundation of Kanawha County. In addition to her being a UC trustee, she was also a long-time trustee of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, served on the CAMC Health System board of trustees, and was recognized as a YWCA Woman of Achievement and as a recipient of the YMCA’s Spirit of the Valley award.
“We are so appreciative for the generosity of Nelle’s children,” said Gail Carter, VP of University Development at UC. “It is very inspiring that they are carrying on the legacy of Nelle Ratrie Chilton at UC. Robert, Dickie, Cynthia and Lewis all conveyed how much Nelle treasured UC/Morris Harvey as both an alumnus and a Charlestonian.”