ASHLAND – Mike Beagle, Southern Oregon University's Director of Alumni Relations and a former member of the Raider football team, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. He was 63.

Beagle played defensive back for the Raiders from 1981-84, earning All-Evergreen Conference recognition three years in a row, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in History in 1985 after also serving on the Student Senate. He was an active member of SOU's Raider Booster Club and the Raider Red Zone before returning to his alma mater full-time as the Director of Alumni Relations in 2012.

"'Beags' was all in for SOU and Raider athletics," SOU Director of Athletics Matt Sayre said. "We were fortunate to have him in our corner as a mentor, advocate and Alumni Director. He embodied the ethos of making the big time where you are, and committing to something bigger than yourself. I will miss him very much as a friend and fly-fishing partner, and we will all miss his enthusiastic belief in the positive potential of SOU."

In a message to the SOU community, President Rick Bailey called Beagle "one of SOU's most loyal advocates." He added: "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."

A product of Eagle Point High School, 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. He served for three and a half years with the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, before coming home to Oregon for a year as executive officer of A Company 1, 186th Infantry Division of the Army National Guard.

Beagle then earned a master's degree in History and Government in 1993 from the University of Portland. He went on to teach social studies for 15 years – at Tigard High School, Silverton High School, and South Medford High School – and coached football and baseball for 19 years.

The next phase of his varied career focused on his 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. 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.

Beagle is survived by his wife, Amy, and his children, Riley and Steen.

Details about upcoming services will be shared later.