After enrolling in college, he found another passion; curiosity towards social stratification, whether based on gender, race, financial station in life, or other imposed separations between people and similar issues.
He accepted a position as a professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1967 where he continued to teach until retirement.
He was known for his off-beat sense of humor and quirky habits, and was rumored to know the story behind the "Legend of Sara Bellum," about a girl who died from lack of studying.
Pease was the founder of the "I'd Rather Be Studying” Gang, who made an attempt at having that phrase become the university motto, though it was struck down because it was said that it did not sound official enough.
He had used topical songs of different genres as students file in for class, including protest music, (including folk music, or the blues), with topics such as the Great Depression, labor unions, and Civil Rights and artists like Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday.
In an article to the Washington Post newspaper, Pease had commented that, "Once they've published a textbook and there's a zillion of them out there -- that's it for their profit until they can come up with a new edition or some sort of technique to sell more books.
"[7] The Post continues, "One of the techniques Pease and others cite is the 'bundling' of books with other materials, such as study guides, Web site access, test questions, CD-ROMs and more.