While attending St. Lawrence, Aitchie was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and a cheerleader for the college. After graduation and a brief time working the controllers office, she moved to Boston where she met the love of her life, Hank Ellison, who later became an honorary St. Lawrence alum.
Throughout her life, Aitchie was dedicated to St. Lawrence. She worked tirelessly as the president of the Alumni Council, member of the Board of Trustees and as an advocate for Title IX equality for female athletes. Until her death in 2022, she proudly served as the class reporter and reunion chair for the class of 1945. She was committed to keeping in touch with her classmates and made phone calls yearly encouraging individuals to contribute to the annual giving fund. One of her proudest accomplishments was to raise funds to honor her classmates who left St. Lawrence to serve in WWII. A bench was dedicated in 2015 at her 70th reunion
She was an officer in the Women's Athletic Association, a member of the Board of Athletic Control and the president of the SLU Club, a women's athletic honorary. She was an avid golfer and a member of the six-woman team at the St. Lawrence Golf and Country Club while working at SLU following graduation. She was inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984. The head cheerleader and an active participant in all sports available to women during her enrollment at SLU, "Aitchie" Ellison is recognized for her intense and dedicated work which brought about the present women's athletic program at St. Lawrence. As president of the alumni association and later as a member of the Board of Trustees, she was relentless in pursuing equal opportunity for women athletes at SLU.
Aitchie always knew she wanted to give back and create a legacy at St. Lawrence. After both her parents passed away, she bequeathed her childhood home to SLU and upon her death in 2022, the University received a fund from the house that has provided immediate support and positively impacted the St. Lawrence mission “to provide an inspiring and demanding undergraduate education in the liberal arts to students selected for their seriousness of purpose and intellectual promise.” In 1985 she and Hank also established the Ellison Family Scholarship fund which supports a student with a good high school academic record who is interested in extracurricular activities.