Each year Onondaga Community College recognizes distinguished graduates who have made a difference in their community and professional life, naming them "Alumni Faces" honorees. On the night of Thursday, October 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the Frederick Marvin and Ernst Schuh Recital Hall in the Academic II building, we will pay tribute to the Alumni Faces Class of 2022. In the weeks leading up to the event we are proudly profiling our honorees on our website and social media. Today we recognize Richard "Dick" "Cato" Calagiovanni '68.
Six decades ago Richard "Dick" "Cato" Calagiovanni had a lot going on, but very little of it had anything to do with excelling in the classroom. "I wasn't focused on school. I was playing in a band, doing a lot of social things, and I was the class clown. I had a lot of duties!"
Calagiovanni was the drummer in a local high school band called "The Exiles." With all of his bandmates heading to four-year colleges, Calagiovanni had to figure out what to do. He applied to two schools and chose the one that accepted him. So in 1966 he graduated from Jamesville DeWitt High School and enrolled at Onondaga Community College.
The college, which had welcomed its first students in 1962, was located in downtown Syracuse in Midtown Plaza, an 8-story building which used to house a typewriter factory. "I had no idea what to expect and didn't know if I would last a semester. There was definitely the fear of failure. But I was greeted by wonderful, friendly faculty."
Calagiovanni had no idea what course of study or career he was interested in, so he chose the General Studies degree program. He survived his freshman year and became an officer in Student Government for his sophomore year. "I meant their stringent qualifications. I had over a 2.0!"
In hindsight, Calagiovanni's performance on Student Government played a critical role in where OCC is today. In 1968 the college was lobbying the County Legislature for a new campus on Onondaga Hill. OCC's President at the time, Marvin Rapp, asked Calagiovanni to join him at County Legislature meetings and be prepared to speak about the college's value to students like himself. "I told Legislators about an experience I had in Sociology where we talked about the war and racial issues. There I was, 18 years old and examining life. On one side of me was a 50-year-old grandmother who never had the opportunity to go to college before. And on the other side was a Vietnam Veteran. You wouldn't have that type of experience in a four-year institution, but that's what a community college was all about."
The County Legislature would approve the building of a campus and Calagiovanni would take part in the groundbreaking ceremony. In his final semester he took his one and only class in the Radio & Television major. "I thought 'I tend to watch a lot of television and critique it so maybe this is the direction I want to go in." He would apply to Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications, be accepted, and earn his bachelor's degree there.
In the summer of 1969 he was hired as a Production Intern at WCNY Television, the Public TV station in Syracuse. The person who hired him, Bill Upwood would eventually train him to be a Producer and Director. And when Upwood would eventually leave to open his own production house, Calagiovanni would replace him as Production Manager. "He engrained all of the philosophy in me. He was very influential and really took me under his wing. He taught all of us teamwork and that you weren't doing this alone. He wanted us to think like a Director and understand what everyone was doing."
Upwood also gave Calagiovanni the nickname "Cato" which would stick with him throughout his career. Cato was a fictional character on the old radio show, "Green Hornet." He was the Hornet's assistant. If a job needed to be done, Cato was the person to do it.
One of Calagiovanni's most memorable experiences came at the very beginning of his career in 1971 when he was doing a live remote for an exhibit at Syracuse's Everson Museum titled, "This is Not Here." It featured work by a famous husband and wife team. "I was the Stage Manager and I shook hands with John Lennon. He was there with Yoko Ono. His album "Imagine" was just coming out and we used that music with the video we made. John and Yoko loved it."
Calagiovanni would spend 29 years working as a Production Manager at WCNY TV. He oversaw countless live television broadcasts of events like high school sports, Syracuse University sports, and telethons. As his telecasts would be in there final seconds and credits were scrolling on the screen, the phone would ring. Even though Upwood was no longer working at WCNY, he called Calagiovanni regularly and gave him a critique.
In the early 1980s Calagiovanni hired a student at North Syracuse High School named Bill Bonnell as a Production Assistant. Bonnell would go on to graduate from OCC and today is a Coordinating Producer at ESPN where he oversees its coverage of the College Football Playoff and their prime time Saturday night college football telecast during the regular season. "Sometimes I'll text him during the first half of a game I'm watching and write 'Looks great Bill. Replays are super.' I'll get a response at halftime."
Since retiring Calagiovanni has remained active within the industry, overseeing the production of videos for non profit organizations such as the Onondaga Historical Association, the Veterans History Project, the Town of Onondaga Historical Society, and Honor Flight Syracuse. When Veterans made a trip to Washington DC in September of 2021, Calagiovanni joined them and put together this video which captured the emotion of the day.
Calagiovanni begin reconnecting with OCC about two decades ago when he and his wife Alicia got a new neighbor on Onondaga Hill. Dick and Alicia hosted a welcome party and dinner for OCC's then new President, Debbie Sydow and her husband Harry. "I got out my old yearbook and Debbie was fascinated by it all. We started getting invited to OCC things."
The experience was eye opening for Calagiovanni's wife, an attorney who had little experience with a community college. As she learned more, she would get involved and become a member of the OCC Foundation board. The OCC Foundation provides funding for student scholarships, programs, and projects which create partnerships in success for students and the entire community.
October 6 will be a special night for the Calagiovanni's. As they celebrate their 32 year anniversary, Dick will become a member of OCC's exclusive club of Alumni Faces honorees. "I've been going to these events for 12 to 14 years. I've been amazed by what people have done after OCC. To think I'm going to be a part of it is really an honor. It's humbling."
We recently sat down with Calagiovanni for an episode of OCC's podcast, "Chatting About College." You can listen to it by clicking on this link. You can also find it at places where you regularly download podcasts by searching "Chatting About College."
