The West Georgian Grieves the Loss of One of Our Own

Alanna King

It is with great sorrow that I announce the death of The West Georgian’s graphic designer, Andrew Slay, who passed away on April 8 in a motor vehicle accident. The tragic news came as a shock to his family, friends, the UWG community and those of us who worked with him at The West Georgian. The twenty-four-year-old art major was set to graduate from the University next year. His loss will be felt irreparably at The West Georgian as he contributed so much to our publication.

Andrew was known to take pride in his strong artistic abilities, ensuring that our PDF archived editions uploaded without a hitch each week. When designing the front page of our bi-semester paper copies, he spent hours collaborating with editors to make sure everything was just right. He had a positive attitude and was very clever when designing the paper. One of my favorite parts of working at The West Georgian was to visit our website each Friday morning and see the week’s articles laid out in the beautiful PDF editions he painstakingly designed. He always made himself available to help, especially when I was new to my position as Editor-in-Chief this spring and learning the ropes. No matter what time of day or how silly my questions were, Andrew worked with me until I got the system down.

Andrew began his graphic design position at The West Georgian in the fall of 2020. His tenure at the paper left The West Georgian staff with fond memories of him. Many of those who’ve graduated and left the paper still remember Andrew’s kind words and hard work ethic that made him a joy to work with. Whenever we faced bumps in the road or a quickly approaching deadline, Andrew was flexible and made it work for everyone. It will be difficult to fill the gaping hole that Andrew’s sudden death brought to the paper.

Andrew Keith Slay was born on February 24, 1999 in Austell, Ga. He is survived by his parents Amanda and Jerry Slay and brother Alex Slay. His graveside service took place on April 12. Condolences to the family may be shared at www.whitleygarner.com. 

The West Georgian staff sends our thoughts and prayers to Andrew’s family and friends. His mark at our publication will never be erased and his legacy will be forever a part of our paper.