With the return of the Alta Gracia line to the new bookstore, students will, “with the very simple decision to buy a t-shirt, have a chance to change someone’s life,” according to Alta Gracia founder and 1985 Vanderbilt alumnus Joe Bozich, who will speak at Vanderbilt this afternoon as part of the American Studies Sustainability Project.
“This year we wanted to make more of an effort to create awareness and educate people,” Ari Schwartz, campaign leader for Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence, said. “The Sustainability Project is the perfect format.”
Alta Gracia is an apparel brand made in the Dominican Republic by unionized workers paid living wage, the first and only brand if its kind. Workers are paid wages 340 percent higher than what is required by law, which is enough not only for workers’ healthcare and housing costs, but to send their children to school.
Bozich started Alta Gracia in 2009 after a nearly yearlong period of hardship for him and his family, including his own diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.
“Having gone through all that, the good news for me was I always had hope, because I was born here, and I was blessed with resources,” Bozich said. “I could get best medical care for myself and my family, and I didn’t have to worry about taking time off work and bills and things like that.”
Bozich wondered what his experience would have been like had he not had that good fortune.
“I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go through what I went through, knowing that there is a cure but it’s not available to you, and on top of that, what if those people were struggling to put a roof over their heads, or food on the table,” Bozich said.
Bozich decided that what he could do to make a difference was to use his business, Knight Apparel, and the Alta Gracia project was born.
His inspiration came not only from his own adversity, but from the campaign that had been around for the past decade from college students calling for a living wage. Bozich says listening to students’ passion is what convinced him the venture would be successful. After only a year, the line has expanded from being sold in 250 college campus bookstores at first to the current 400.
“Now that we’re one year into it, the product is performing, but the key is awareness,” Bozich said. “How do we get that story out there when the decision whether or not to buy that t-shirt takes only a few seconds? How do we say: because of your decision, there’s a child whose parents will now be able to send them to school and give them hope for a better future? I want people to know that option’s available. If they care, there’s something they can do.”
Alta Gracia was carried by the closing Sarratt campus bookstore and will continue to be carried by the new store, opening Oct. 31.
Bozich will speak at 4:10 p.m. in Buttrick Hall.
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