Western Kentucky University has received another monetary gift – this time for the Carroll Knicely Conference Center at the university’s South Campus.

Ward Elliott, a Bowling Green Realtor, and his wife, Ann, made a $100,000 pledge to the center. With the gift comes naming rights – the center’s boardroom will bear the Elliott name.

&#8220Ann and I are both graduates of WKU, and we wanted to contribute to the continued growth of the university,” Ward Elliott said in a news release.

Ward Elliott owns and operates the Ward Elliott Institute of Real Estate, which he established in 1982. Since the Knicely Center opened, Ward Elliott has operated most of his classes – both pre-license and continuing education courses – out of the Knicely Center’s boardroom.

The monetary gift will allow for the creation of the first stage of an endowment for the Knicely Center, which will be used for continuous maintenance, refurbishing, electronic teaching, technology and conferencing enhancements, said Don Swoboda, dean of WKU’s Division of Extended Learning and Outreach, which oversees the Knicely Center. The endowment will also go toward operations of the center, allowing for continued offerings of a state-of-the-art conferencing and event facility for the Bowling Green community, Swoboda said.

The gift is the beginning of what could be an increased engagement of other partners, like the Elliotts, to join with DELO and the Knicely Center, Swoboda said in the release. These partnerships help guarantee the facility’s continued service and the impact the many other programs offered through the division.

Swoboda said the first priority for proceeds from the endowment will be to enhance the newly named boardroom.

&#8220I have been having classes at the Knicely Center longer than anyone else. It is a great facility,” Ward Elliott said. &#8220I can’t think of anywhere I would rather have my name than there.”