Fifteen years after retiring from full-time teaching at Pacific University, Mike Steele Hon. ’26 is right back in the classroom this fall.
He can’t imagine being anywhere else.
“Why would you stop doing something you love?” said Steele, the Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of English who continues to teach at least one class per year. “I love working with students. I love staying in touch with the life of the mind. If you really love something, do you just stop it? No, you don’t.”
Whether teaching about Victorian poetry (what Steele earned his PhD in), the intersection of religion and the Holocaust, the nuances of sport, or any his many other interests, Steele still relishes stretching his own mind and those of his students, something that he has done at Pacific for over 50 years.
Steele’s excellence in education and passion for learning were honored by Pacific in May 2026 with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, adding to his long list of accolades for academic excellence.
“It was a surprise. I am very proud of the distinction,” Steele said.
While many faculty members focus on a specific specialty or two, Steele’s class offerings have historically been as varied as his interests: Holocaust Literature, the Literature of Unbelief, Native American Literature, Sociology of Sport, British Literature, and Disability Studies, to name a few.
Those interests stretched far beyond the classroom. He coached cross country and football. At times, he advised the Index student newspaper, the Heart of Oak yearbook and the Pacific Review literary magazine. He also served as the advisor for the Alpha Zeta fraternity.
Steele’s passion for the sport of handball led him to found Pacific’s handball team in 1977. He built the program into a national power over his 37 years as head coach, mentoring numerous state champions and All-Americans. He led the Boxers to team national championships in 2013 and 2014.
If that wasn’t enough, Steele has continued to write and publish on his vast academic interests. His vita includes at least 10 books he has authored or co-authored on subjects ranging from treatises on Holocaust studies to the definitive encyclopedia of the football program at his beloved University of Notre Dame.
Steele believes that if he had been anywhere but Pacific, his career would have been much more one-dimensional.
“They let me operate within my enthusiasms,” Steele said. “This is my kind of place.”
“We All Need Help”
For Steele, being a resource and support for students at Pacific is just as important as teaching. It was a lesson that he learned as an undergraduate at Notre Dame.
A first-generation college student, Steele faced financial struggles at the end of his junior year that put his ability to complete his degree in question. At the suggestion of his writing professor, Richard Sullivan, Steele wrote a letter to the university’s president, Father Theodore Hesburgh, explaining his situation and asking for help.
Writing that letter — an ask for help — changed the course of Steele’s life. A few days later, he was summoned to Notre Dame’s financial aid office, where he was presented with a letter from Hesburgh with a simple directive: Do not let financial aid become a problem for this upcoming senior.
“I personally felt grateful ever since I saw that letter,” Steele recalled. “He didn’t really know me at the time. But wow, what a great way to handle something.”
