James Ragan, C'66, was born December 19, 1944, to a family of 13 children in Duquesne, PA. James went on to receive both a BA in 1966 and an Litt.D in 1990 from Saint Vincent College. He has since authored 13 books of poetry including "The Hunger Wall" and "Lusions" (Grove Press). His plays "The Landlord" and "Commedia" have been staged in NY, LA, Moscow, Beijing and at St. Vincent College on October 29, 2012. At Saint Vincent, he also gave the 1990 College Convocation Address, received the Alumni of Distinction Award (1991), Athletic Hall of Fame Induction (2001), Presidential Medal of Honor and Commencement Address (2003), Published in 38 Int. Anthologies, he has read for 7 Heads of State, the UN, Carnegie Hall, CNN, NPR, BBC and in 36 nations including China, Tibet, and Russia where, with Bob Dylan, he was invited to represent the U.S. in a Glasnost reading for Gorbachev at the 1985 Moscow Poetry Festival. Honors include an NEA, 9 Pushcart Nominations, California Poet Laureate Nomination, Telly Award, 2 Fulbright Grants, Amazon's 100 Great Poems and the Swan Foundation Humanitarian Award etc. He's the subject of "Flowers and Roots," winner of 8 Documentary Festival Awards and Platinum Prize winner at the 2016 Houston Film Festival. In 2023 he received Romania's Wallachia Festival of Arts Award and in 2024, the Gold Medal of Honor from the Czech Foreign Ministry. He's the subject of a 156 pg. study, "Buying a Watch with Timeless Springs: Poetry of James Ragan" by Dr. Shubhi Sharma (India 2026). Seamus Heaney praised his poems as "sparing no passion in believing they sing." He earned a Ph.D at Ohio U, a 2nd Litt.D (London's Richmond U.) and served 25 yrs. as Director of USC's Professional Writing Program and 24 summers as Dist. Professor at Prague's Charles U. He recently celebrated his 44th wedding anniversary with a poetry reading dedicated to Debora on the Queen Mary 2, sailing the Atlantic. They have three children Tera, Mara, and Jameson.
Frank Scappaticci, C'65, scored a “hole in one” on the 191 yard 18th hole at Mohansic Golf Club, in Yorktown Heights, New York, on July 16, 2026.
John Bacon's, P'60, granddaughter, Phoebe Bacon, qualified for the US Olympic Swim Team (200M Back Stroke) in Indianapolis, IN, on 6/21/24. Phoebe will be swimming for the USA at the Paris Olympics this Summer. Go Phoebe!!!
Michael Yates, C’67, is the longest serving director of Monthly Review Press in New York City. He became director in 2006, and since then has seen more than 200 books through to publication. Michael served as primary editor for at least 100 of these. The Press recently published his 19th book, The Political Writings of Bhagat Singh, co-edited with Chaman Lal. He first learned to write with some skill at SVC (You can't edit if you can't write!), with his first professors of English, Jim Crenner and Phil Tama showing him the way. Michael was taught great skills of disciplined studying by Fathers Armand and Callistus in their Economics classes and the patience to learn everything he could in every class from Father Roderick. Michael was a college teacher for 45 years, and always tried to pattern himself after those teachers who could make difficult material clear and not so hard to understand. At SVC, his calculus teacher, Dr. Dudzinsky, was a marvel at this. He wants to thank these professors and SVC in general for helping him see how little he knew but how much he might come to know.
Albert Hagovsky, C’67, published a book on Kindle called, “Vietnam 631.” The book includes summaries of the 631 letters written by Albert and his then fiancé, Colette (now wife of 53 years) during 1969.
Charles Farley, C’65, was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association in July 2023. On May 9, 2024, he will be inducted into the Connecticut Coaches Hall of Fame. He retired from coaching Track and Field in 2023 and retired from teaching in 2005.
Joseph Yochim, Esq., C’69, was honored with an award for his 50th year as a Pennsylvania Attorney and 50 years as an Erie County Bar Assn member.
Roger Woodhour, C’64, is a retired CEO of RollEase, Inc. since May 2005. He is a volunteer Puppy Raiser for The Seeing Eye since 1991; raising 32 pups. Served on the Board for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Worked with the New Jersey State Legislature to enact Dusty’s Law that provides for significant punishment for individuals and/or dogs that attack service dogs.
