David Ralston honored at UNG Blue Ridge campus

Ralston: UNG building dedicated

  • Spiro Amburn, former chief of staff for the late Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, Georgia State Senator Steve Gooch, Matthew Ralston, the son of Speaker Ralston, and University of North Georgia President Dr. Michael Shannon, from left, stand inside the school’s upcoming David E. Ralston Hall on the Blue Ridge Campus.
    Spiro Amburn, former chief of staff for the late Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, Georgia State Senator Steve Gooch, Matthew Ralston, the son of Speaker Ralston, and University of North Georgia President Dr. Michael Shannon, from left, stand inside the school’s upcoming David E. Ralston Hall on the Blue Ridge Campus.
  • Georgia Senator Steve Gooch signs the beam of the University of North Georgia Blue Ridge Campus’ David E. Ralston Hall during a dedication ceremony.
    Georgia Senator Steve Gooch signs the beam of the University of North Georgia Blue Ridge Campus’ David E. Ralston Hall during a dedication ceremony.
  • The David E. Ralston Hall on the University of North Georgia Blue Ridge Campus is expected to open in the spring of 2025.
    The David E. Ralston Hall on the University of North Georgia Blue Ridge Campus is expected to open in the spring of 2025.

    Honoring the late Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, the University of North Georgia’s (UNG) Blue Ridge Campus will soon be able to educate students with a pair of bachelor degrees.

    The announcement was made at the school’s annual Tomato Sandwich Supper Thursday, November 7, on the Blue Ridge Campus.

    The new building that is nearing completion was officially dedicated and named the David E. Ralston Hall that night, and those in attendance had the opportunity of signing a beam – honoring his legacy.

    “I want to praise David Ralston,” Senator Steve Gooch said. “This was his vision for this community. He and I talked about it many, many times.

    “He loved North Georgia. He loved to leave Atlanta on Fridays coming home. He loved to look through that windshield toward these beautiful mountains because this is where his heart and his soul was.”

    Speaker Ralston graduated from the university, formerly called North Georgia College, before earning a law degree from the University of Georgia.

    The new wing will provide for bachelor’s degrees in nursing and education while the school mostly accommodates for core classes at this time.

    “What we’re the most excited about, is for the first time, in this part of the state in Fannin County, serving Gilmer and Union, and all of these surrounding counties, students don’t have to go to Atlanta anymore,” said UNG President Dr. Michael Shannon.

    “Students don’t have to go to Athens anymore; students don’t have to go to Dalton anymore; students don’t even have to go to Dahlonega, and for some that is still a long ways.”

    Projected to open in the spring of 2025, the wing boasts 22,300 square feet. The stand-alone campus officially opened in 2020 with Ralston credited as a major contributor for its Blue Ridge location.

    Speaker Ralston’s son Matthew said of his father, “The one thing that he was super proud about with (the University of) North Georgia having a permanent base here was that in Fannin County there would be a permanent base for higher education for the students of Fannin County, Pickens and Union.

    “And because of this facility, and because of the investment, you know, students in this area will have the ability to go wherever they want to because of the University of North Georgia.”