SOU President Bailey says he was ‘One of the most outspoken champions of our university’; weekend death while hiking announced Monday
Ashland.news staff report
Southern Oregon University announced Monday that its longtime alumni relations director had passed away.
Mike Beagle, 63, who served in his role at SOU since 2012, passed away unexpectedly Sunday following a hiking incident, according to a report in the Rogue Valley Times attributed to the SOU Sports Information office.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office officials were not ready to release more information on his passing as of press time on Tuesday, but a spokesperson said more information would be released when it becomes available.
“Most of you are aware of the characteristics and values that defined Mike: he was a hardcore conservationist, a devoted educator, a proud military veteran and — perhaps most passionately — one of the most outspoken champions of our university,” Bailey said in a letter to the campus.
Beagle had been active with SOU’s Raider Booster Club and the Raider Red Zone even before he was hired in 2012 as SOU’s Director of Alumni Relations, according to SOU.
In an announcement of his passing on Monday, Beagle was touted on SOU’s Facebook page as “often the first to welcome new graduates into the alumni family and steady force behind countless traditions, gatherings, and moments of connection that strengthened the Raider spirit.”
He tracked graduates and built membership in the SOU Alumni Association, organizing “Raider Rendezvous” alumni gatherings throughout the Northwest, putting SOU on display for each fall’s Homecoming Weekend and sharing his love for the university with fellow alumni wherever he could find them.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that every person who walked across our commencement stage for the past 12-plus years received an email or phone call from Mike — and a high percentage likely had a refreshment with him at Omar’s,” Bailey said.
Beagle was a graduate of Eagle Point High School before earning his bachelor’s degree in History from SOU in 1985. He played football as a Raider from 1981-1984, serving as co-captain in 1984 and earning all-conference honors as a three-time defensive back. He also served on the Student Senate during the 1984-85 academic year, according to Bailey.
Beagle attended the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School and U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, earning his commission as a second lieutenant in 1986. Serving for three and a half years with the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, he returned home to Oregon for a year as executive officer of A Company 1, 186th Infantry Division of the Army National Guard.
Beagle then earned his master’s degree in History and Government in 1993 from the University of Portland, while serving as a social studies teacher at Tigard High School. Later he taught at Silverton High School and South Medford High School. In all, he taught high school social studies for 15 years and coached football and baseball for nearly 20 years.
But Beagle also had a great love of the outdoors.
He remained in the Medford-Grants Pass area to serve for seven years as the Oregon field director for Trout Unlimited, working with hunters and anglers on public land issues. At about the same time, he became a founding board member and served as chair of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers — an organization that grew from a campfire in the south Cascade foothills to a public land conservation organization with 35,000 members in the U.S. and Canada.
Bailey said services would be announced later, with guidance from his family.
“Let’s all please remember — and celebrate — Mike for the superstar team member and dedicated Raider that he will always be,” Bailey said. “All of us are sending love to his family; please keep them in your thoughts and keep Mike’s spirit alive through your love and commitment to each other, and to our university.”
Beagle is survived by his wife, Amy, and his children, Riley and Steen, according to the SOU information office.
If you would like to share memories of Mike Beagle with the community at-large, please reach out to Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].
Feb. 19: Corrected story to attribute information about the time frame and circumstance of Mike Beagle’s passing to a report from the SOU Sports Information office published in the Rogue Valley Times, not SOU President Rick Bailey.
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Sheriff: SOU director of alumni relations was hiking Wagner Butte near Talent when he had ‘a medical event’ (Feb. 18, 2026)
