UVA Today

In announcing Laushway’s pending retirement in 2020 to Student Affairs colleagues, then-Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Patricia M. Lampkin lauded Laushway for his devotion to students and their development.

“He has established relationships with thousands of students as they grappled with challenges of college life, took risks, grew, excelled, and became the adults they are today,” Lampkin wrote. “Aaron has been a dear mentor, confidante, and friend to so many of the students who have passed through UVA. He has seen himself as a ‘connector.’ We can indeed thank him for bringing people together, helping them to be their best selves, and sharing of himself in countless ways.”

Among his many duties and roles over the years at UVA, Laushway was responsible for Fraternity & Sorority Life; advised the Second- and Third-Year Councils and Fourth-Year Trustees; managed the dean-on-call system; served as liaison to United Ministries; supported transfer students and undergraduate veterans; spearheaded the Academic Convocation on the Lawn for graduate and professional students; and more. He served as faculty fellow at Hereford Residential College for nearly 20 years.

Laushway received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 2014 for his contributions to student life at UVA, as well as numerous other accolades and honorary memberships in student-run organizations and programs. He also was a member of the Raven Society.

He earned his undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology and sociology from Providence College, and a Baccalaureate and Licentiate of Systemic Theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and went on to earn both a master’s degree and a doctorate in counseling from UVA. Laushway also was a Merrill Fellow in Theology & Pastoral Ministry at Harvard University.

From the late 1980s to mid 1990s, he served as the prior at St. Mary’s in the Yale University parish. Laushway returned to UVA in 1996 as assistant dean of student affairs and, later, was founding director of the Fraternity & Sorority Life office.

Marsh Pattie, associate vice president in the Division of Student Affairs, was Laushway’s first graduate assistant in that new office. He recalled fondly that Laushway supported him through that position and through graduate school, and 11 years later, guided Pattie again when he joined the Dean of Students’ office.

In short, Laushway once again was serving as a connector.

“I could tell him anything and he would listen without judgment, always with kindness, and a wisdom that seemed endless,” Pattie said. “He did the same for generations of students, standing beside them in their most difficult moments while also helping them take responsibility and learn from their mistakes. His presence was deeply felt here, and his memory will forever be part of the University’s fabric.” 

His death prompted a gusher of emotions and memories online, where some 250 people added their thoughts and memories of Laushway on Creech’s Facebook post announcing his husband’s death. Some recalled specific events. Others pointed to his devotion to helping people feel welcome at UVA, or his constant presence at events in support of students or colleagues, or his deep affection to his dogs.

The responses “are a true testament to Aaron’s loving impact at the University,” Creech said in an email to UVA Today.

Creech recalled Laushway getting up in the middle of the night “on countless occasions” to help a student who was in crisis or had made a mistake and found himself in trouble.

“He never, EVER, said even one cross word or grumbled in the slightest,” Creech said. “In fact, I cannot remember a complaint about anyone … not even in the safety and confidentiality of our marriage.” 

One of his close friends, former Associate Vice President for Public Affairs Carol S. Wood, was among those who kept Laushway company during his weeks in hospice. Wood this week recalled Laushway’s special skill of guiding students through academic and personal issues, with those same students later writing him letters of gratitude.

“Most importantly, he was a champion of the University values of honor, integrity, civility, student self-governance, academic rigor and diversity,” Wood said. “He was a vocal supporter of building a community of caring that would extend to all students. He whole-heartedly embraced diversity and equity and was among the most welcoming to students – as well as staff and faculty – who were in the minority and might have found the University a difficult place in which to succeed. He encouraged that their voices be heard.” 

Funeral services will be held April 28, at 10 a.m., at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish.