Greg Capillo is originally from Lexington, Kentucky. His dad had always been very progressive, protesting the Vietnam War and pushing his small Catholic college to include the social sciences. He informed a lot of Greg’s beliefs about life and people. Greg’s mom has always been very committed. She moved to Kentucky right after high school to work in Wolfe County as part of a relief program set up by the Catholic church and has been there and working for the people ever since. When Greg was younger, she was a domestic violence victims’ advocate, and many times she would bring home the women and their children if she felt she needed to. Her commitment to doing the right thing inspired Greg to take action for what he believes.
Greg originally came to WKU for the Journalism program. It was while Greg was writing for the WKU Herald that he was assigned to cover the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities in Bowling Green. Talking to Linda McCray, Executive Director of the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission, about the status of social justice in Bowling Green and the legacy of Dr. King blew him away.
Greg continued to cover housing stories alongside Kaleidoscope Youth Programming and through those efforts met Jessica Hays and Dana Brown with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC). Greg also began working with other WKU students affiliated with the ONE campaign to end global poverty. He felt they were doing great work, and he wanted to share with them information about the social justice issues right here in Bowling Green.
Eventually Greg and his friends were able to organize a WKU campus chapter of KFTC that became a part of Bowling Green’s Chapter. One of their biggest efforts was in the primary elections last May, when turnout rose almost 15% in the precincts which they worked. Over the course of the next semester, KFTC and Americans for Informed Democracy canvassed every Saturday and registered 750 new voters.
Greg’s favorite moment last Fall was an interaction with a Bosnian family whose father,
Mehmed, desperately wanted to register to vote but wasn’t home. When Greg was on his way back through their neighborhood, one of the daughters ran up to tell him that her dad was back. Greg helped him fill out his registration card, as the gentleman did not understand the difference between the political parties. KFTC is a non-partisan organization, so in these instances you name candidates from each of the parties. Greg explained that John McCain was the Republican candidate and that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the Democratic candidates.
Greg continues to be inspired to do the work that he does with KFTC and the ONE Campaign, and he expresses much enthusiasm about being a part of history in a time when social issues are such a priority for our nation’s leaders. We will no doubt continue to see Greg’s mark on the world here at WKU and beyond.
The ALIVE CCP is proud of the many WKU students that make their mark on the world. Regardless of idealosy or political orientation, we celebrate our student’s efforts to work together to address some of the world’s most complex problems. As the number of student’s becoming active in our community continues to grow, we thank you for the role you play in educating a generation to become active citizens working to improve the quality of life in Kentucky and beyond.
