Office Space: Laura Ulmer Laura Ulmer serves as the associate dean of student engagement in Student Affairs at Washington and Lee University.

By Kelsey Goodwin
April 23, 2026

Laura Ulmer is the associate dean of student engagement for the division of Student Affairs at W&L, where she leads strategic planning and implementation of campus programming. She joined W&L as the director of student activities in January 2023 from Old Dominion University, where she had served as director of the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity since 2015. Earlier in her career, she spent five years as coordinator of student rights and responsibilities at the University of Louisville and three years overseeing leadership, academic enrichment and organizational development at Wingate University. A native of Marietta, Ohio, Ulmer holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Mount Union, an M.Ed. in college student personnel services from Ohio University and a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville, where her doctoral research centered on supporting college students facing suicidal ideations and other mental health challenges. Her work has been recognized with the Innovation in Research and Publication Award from the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association (2018) and the Outstanding New Professional Award from the University of Louisville’s Student Affairs division (2012). She considers herself a champion of JOMO — the Joy of Missing Out — a digital well-being initiative that shapes the philosophy behind her office, which she has cultivated to be a haven for students and colleagues passing by on the second floor of Elrod Commons.

JOMO is the Joy of Missing Out. The idea is that it’s actually wonderful to not know everything that is happening, especially in the digital world. It’s a digital well-being initiative that I think is fantastic and really important for college-age students, but also for all of us, as we think about how much time we spend on our phones and in front of other screens. It’s so hard to put them down because we’re afraid of missing out on something. The reality is that in most societies for most of history, it was normal to not know exactly what everybody was doing all of the time. There’s some bliss in that ignorance.

Around my office, you’ll see several activity things that you can pick up and touch and do. Part of that is because of my excitement about digital well-being, and part is because I think it gives you something to do when you’re here. When a student comes in looking for ways to spend their time and things to do with their hands, because maybe they’re having a rough day, they gravitate toward the Zen garden. There’s a little poster nearby with another favorite line of mine: “Do things that make you forget to check your phone.” That’s really the point.

One morning I came in and there was a record player sitting in front of my office door. I had no idea where it had come from or why it was there, but I brought it inside, because that’s what you do when something like that shows up at your door. It sat for a week or two, and eventually I thought, “Well, I’m going to need to set it up and listen to a record.” So, I did — I bought a couple of records. I was excited. Then, I got an email from a student: “Hey, do you have a record player? Somebody at FUDG [Friday Underground] thought it was yours and brought it up to your office, but it’s actually from a residence. Can I have it back?” Well, sure, the right answer is yes. But that meant I now had records and an affinity for record players, which meant I now needed a record player. So this one, from Walmart, became part of the office. It’s a cute little condensed version, and it’s available if anyone wants to borrow it for an event.

This is a woodburning and painting made by a previous staff person who knew me as the person who was always kayaking. The kayaking is, in some ways, how I ended up in Lexington. In 2019, for one of the first times, we actually chose a vacation based on what we wanted to do instead of the other way around: hike, climb a mountain, kayak and camp. We were living in Norfolk and would drive back to Ohio, where we’re from, to see family, and we kept coming through this area saying, “This is so beautiful — we need to visit.” So, we stayed at Cave Mountain Lake Campground, did all the things we’d planned and fell in love with the area. We came back in the spring of 2022, stayed at the same place because we couldn’t find anywhere better and hiked different mountains. We had stayed one night at the Gin Hotel downtown and ate outside at TAPS, and I saw a skunk that night (I love skunks). One night after we returned from that trip, I was standing in our kitchen back in Norfolk, and the mountains were really calling. I was thinking, “I need a little town that has a Walmart — because sometimes you’re going to need to go shopping — and a grocery.” Lexington had all of that. It was so cute.

Right as I was thinking about that, my husband walked into the kitchen right on cue and said, half-jokingly, “But where in the mountains are we going to live?” I looked at him and said, “Lexington.” And he said, “I was just thinking about Lexington.” We started searching, we found W&L, and the director of student activities job happened to be open. It felt like it had been waiting for me. And we do have a resident skunk now who comes around every night to eat cat food on the patio and peek in through the living room door.

Lex Fest is the music festival hosted by the General Activities Board, and this will be our third one. It’s always at Lime Kiln Theater on the first weekend in May. It’s a great way to get people out to Lime Kiln who might not have been before. The students walk around saying, “Oh my gosh, this is great,” which I do the same thing every time I’m there. It’s a wonderful venue, a hidden gem, and the tickets do go quickly. As it happens, we ended up in a house where the venue is right in the backyard, so for a Lime Kiln night it’s easier for us to walk out the back than drive around.

Last year for Seersucker Soirée, we made what felt like a billion bow ties and headbands, all seersucker. Seersucker Soirée is our celebration for seniors the day before Baccalaureate — a brunch on Cannan Green with live music, mimosas, photo ops and delicious food. This will be our second one. It’s a celebration for the seniors, but also for Student Affairs, recognizing everything we’ve done across the year. The sewing machines have lived in my office ever since, because you never know when you’re going to need a sewing machine. I’ll admit I have a bit of a fear of them along with a healthy respect. I keep telling myself that one of these days I’m going to come in every morning and thread the bobbins and thread the needles, because the hardest part is getting started. If I could just do that for a week or two, I think I’d get comfortable. That’s a summer project.

On my first Leading Edge trip in 2023, we were talking about different personalities and how we each show up — for example, horoscopes, zodiacs and tarot — and how fun it would be to learn more about them. So, I said, well, “I’ll get a deck and keep it in the office.” Throughout the year, my trip leaders would stop in and say, “Can we pull tarot today?” Sometimes I wasn’t even there, they just knew where it was and would just come in, grab it and go. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but whatever we pulled always seemed to resonate with what we needed to answer or explain. I chose the Good Karma deck because it was positive and uplifting. College students, and the rest of us, need that on a regular basis.

This bookmark is from “The Four Agreements,” which our vice president, Alex Miller, introduced to our division when he arrived. The four agreements are easy to remember and hard to actually live. Being impeccable with your word means saying what you’re going to do, and then doing what you said you would. Don’t take things personally; even the tone of an email can read as personal when it wasn’t intended that way, and life is just easier when you’re a little less offended. Don’t make assumptions. So often we don’t know why someone did what they did, and we probably never will, and if we don’t assume the negative, we get to decide it could be for something great. And always do your best, knowing that “your best” looks different on different days. Some days it’s 100%, some days it’s 60%. Showing up ready and doing your best at whatever level you’re at is what matters.

I was the director of leadership at a previous job, and “The Great Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus” was part of a library I inherited there. It has gone with me everywhere since. The book tells you to build your workshop by setting the best example, to choose your reindeer wisely — that is, make good decisions about the people you surround yourself with — to always check your list (twice) and to listen to the elves, because they matter. You “share the milk and cookies” by reaping the rewards of hard work while also sharing the love. And, of course, be good for goodness’ sake.

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