In Memoriam: Aaron Laushway

‘Deeply compassionate’ associate dean of students devoted his life to UVA

If UVA students could rely on Aaron Laushway (Educ class of ’84, class of ’87) to do one thing, it was show up. From Virginia Gentlemen a cappella concerts to hoodings for master’s candidates to Cavaliers sporting events (and not just football and basketball), he never missed a chance to show his support.

Laushway, who died on April 9 at age 71, spent 24 years at the University, first as associate dean of students in charge of fraternity and sorority life and later as associate dean working with transfer and graduate students. He remained a fixture on Grounds—rarely seen without his trademark grin—until his retirement in 2020.

“The investment was personal. I don’t think he ever viewed it as a job. It was a personal investment in the lives of students,” said former dean of students Allen W. Groves (Law ’90 CM), who worked closely with Laushway for nearly 15 years. “His ability to extend extraordinarily sincere comfort, counsel, and care in an increasingly frantic and busy world stood out to me.”

Laushway’s job often involved making late-night trips to the hospital to visit students in crisis—a duty he didn’t seem to mind.

“He never, EVER, said even one cross word or grumbled in the slightest,” Laushway’s husband, Curtis Creech (Engr class of ’22, class of ’29), told UVA Today. “In fact, I cannot remember a complaint about anyone … not even in the safety and confidentiality of our marriage.”

While Laushway cultivated relationships with thousands of young ’Hoos, Groves recalled one in particular: a formerly incarcerated student who applied to UVA in his 20s. “Aaron gets a lot of credit, in my opinion, for getting that young person fully integrated into life at the University and across the finish line with a degree. It was exemplary of the way Aaron would deeply invest in a young person and see absolutely the best in them.”

Laushway’s signature compassion for others extended to animals. When he bought his first house in Charlottesville, the owners left behind their senior Labrador retriever, telling Laushway the animal could either stay with him or go to a shelter.

“Aaron had no experience with dogs, but without hesitation, he said, ‘I’m keeping the dog. The dog’s not going to the shelter,’” Groves said. “That’s just the nature of his compassion—a deeply compassionate person.”

Laushway soon saw the value in bringing the dog to Grounds to spend time with students, who often missed their pets back home. “Animals have that effect on us as people, too, in lowering our stress,” Groves said. “He took seriously the idea that students needed that, and he was going to provide it.”

A double ’Hoo himself, Laushway earned a master’s and a doctorate in counseling from UVA. He earned his undergraduate degree in sociology and anthropology from Providence College and a licentiate in theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where he became a Catholic priest. He also served as a chaplain at Yale University and completed a Merrill fellowship at Harvard’s School of Divinity.

In addition to his husband, survivors include two sisters and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

—Sam Grossman