By Sofia Corcoran & Corinn Mabry
A chocolate milk. A photo of a mini cooper. An MLB baseball. These are a few things that sit outside the now empty office belonging to Professor Dale Michaels, a valued academic, advisor, professor, and friend to so many in our Jefferson community. Alongside these small tokens of gratitude are a multitude of notes from students and colleagues.
“Dale, I am so grateful to have known you all these years. You will be greatly missed.”
“Dale, you were such a mentor. My entire college experience is because of you. I’ll be thinking of you on graduation day!”
“You were a friend before anything else. Thank you so much for everything.”
Dale was such a friendly face on campus. He was known thoroughly within the psychology department but also in the other colleges on the East Falls Campus. He founded the Community and Trauma Counseling program, where his influence is boundless. He could be seen in Common Thread having breakfast with his family, chatting while walking with students across campus, attending so many different events hosted by the clubs Jefferson offers, or taking plates of cookies from the Kanbar information desk after events had been held in the performance space. Dale was always someone who smiled back, even if you weren’t smiling.
It was always reassuring to know that someone on campus cared about you the way that Dale did. It cannot be stressed enough that you did not even have to have Dale as a professor or advisor for him to welcome you with open arms. Dale’s topics of conversation ranged from psychoeducation and sharing his wisdom about trauma and self-concept, to his years spent playing baseball and bass guitar.
Quote from Carla Golderer, Class of 2027:
“Something I’ll always remember about Dale is how empathetic he was. He had strong feelings about the world, yet was able to not only tolerate but truly empathize with people who he fundamentally disagreed with, which is an incredibly hard skill. He was realistic but still saw the good in everyone.
Dale was into movies and music, which is something we bonded over. He did college radio, too, and we talked about oldies that I love that he used to play on the radio. I shared a playlist with him once, and he was very impressed. He always talked about Napoleon Dynamite and how kids these days don’t appreciate the humor in that movie. He even brought it up in class once. One time, I told him that I watched The Thing, and he enthusiastically told me how the first time he saw that movie he was so scared but loved it.
Dale was a proud introvert and brought it up probably every time I ever spoke to him. I always thought it was funny that he was so passionate about it. His perfect night was just staying in, probably getting Krispy Kreme (I think those are the donuts he liked) and spending time with his family.”
Similar to the items gently placed outside his office, there will be so much to reflect Dale and his legacy both on and off campus. Dale was interested in things that could only be claimed as “so Dale.” Chocolate chip cookies, existentialism, Radiohead, Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Clash. Community was so important to Dale. He spoke so highly about students' incredible events on campus and shared fond memories of Psychology Society barbecues with his colleagues of past and present. Community is also something that we at Jefferson need to keep in our hearts as we grieve this enormous loss. Dale is an irreplaceable force, and our condolences are with his family at this time. DSM forever.
*Editor’s note: A candlelight vigil in honor of Professor Michaels will be held on March 6 at 5:45pm in KPS. If you would like to publish an article or a quote honoring Professor Michaels, please email us at @thejeffersonstudentvoice@gmail.com
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