Memorial bench honors Dennis and Betty Chafin Rash

Rash bench dedication
Monday, March 5, 2018

Under a tree outside UNC Charlotte Center City, a bench waits to provide respite, giving those who pause to sit a beautiful view of the First Ward Park.

The bench honors Dennis and Betty Chafin Rash as “Visionaries, Leaders, Citizens, Partners.” Dennis Rash died in July 2017; he and his wife Betty Chafin Rash received the 2013 UNC Charlotte Distinguished Service Award for their efforts to expand educational opportunities for the greater Charlotte community.

Dennis Rash, a former dean of students at the University in the 1970s, would join Bank of America. During a 23-year career there, he initiated the first community development corporation and subsequently became the first president of the bank’s community development subsidiary. Rash has been called a driving force in the development of UNC Charlotte Center City and the adjacent First Ward Park and the Blue Line Extension of the LYNX light rail to campus.

Chancellor Philip L. Dubois noted the bench’s location was fittingly in a place Dennis Rash would love – at UNC Charlotte Center City, a building he helped develop, and looking out at the First Ward Park, he helped create.