Where did Colin Kaepernick get start as an activist?

They remember the conservative haircut he wore at John Pitman High School, and now they see the Afro and cornrows. They remember his studious and soft-spoken ways from a decade ago, and now they see him refusing to stand for the national anthem and agitating for social change.

In Turlock, Calif., where Colin Kaepernick was raised, many residents have asked some version of the same question: What in the heck happened to our hometown hero?

But those who knew Kaepernick at the University of Nevada at Reno, where attended from 2006-10 and was a star quarterback before getting drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2011, say they’re not at all confused.

“Anyone who wants to characterize this as some new black awareness on his behalf just simply doesn’t know him or didn’t do the diligence,’’ Reg Stewart, director of the Center for Student Cultural Diversity at Nevada-Reno when Kaepernick was in school, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s not like I turned on the TV and was like, ‘Wow, where did this come from?’ I was like, ‘You know what, he has been thinking about these issues for at least the time I’ve known him.’ ’’

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Kaepernick grew up in Turlock, but he came of age in Reno, suggested classmates such as DeAndre Boughton, who played football with Kaepernick at Nevada.

“All the rumors you hear about him having this new girlfriend who’s making him do all this, nah, he’s in the same guy,’’ Boughton told USA TODAY  Sports. “He’s just in a position now where he’s more comfortable where he can make that happen.’’

Turlock, by all accounts, is not a place where Kaepernick would have been inclined to protest the oppression of African Americans.

Kaepernick is biracial and grew up in a city where African Americans comprise less than 2% of the population. Adopted by white parents and playing sports on predominantly white teams, Kaepernick blended in, said Jeremy Hibbs, who played sports with and against Kaepernick.

Hibbs and most other residents of Turlock never saw what transpired in Reno, where as a junior Kaepernick joined Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically black fraternity.

Dean Bart-Plange was the fraternity president when Kaepernick inquired about joining Kappa Alpha Psi during the spring semester of Kaepernick’s junior year. It was unusual for football players to pledge a fraternity, much less as an upperclassman.

“You could tell he was searching for some type of platform where he could make a difference," Bart-Plange told USA TODAY Sports. “He was saying he wanted to do more than just football. He felt like he needed to make a difference.’’

Kaepernick recalled thinking at the time, "Where do I start?"

When asked how his experience with the fraternity helped shape him and his social activism, Kaepernick told USA TODAY Sports, "It goes back to brotherhood. These communities are people. We need to address them like people. We need to help them like people. A lot of times we turn a blind eye and we create a stigma or perception that these are not people that are dying. We have got people dying on American soil from American officials. That’s not right.''

Brandon Marshall, the Denver Broncos linebacker who played at Nevada-Reno, said he encouraged Kaepernick to attend an event to learn more about the fraternity.

“I told him about it and then he hit me up,’’ Marshall told USA TODAY Sports. “I was actually late. He said, 'I’m here man, where you at?’ That’s how I knew he was serious.’’

Marshall, who joined the fraternity that same semester, said what he saw at Nevada-Reno aligned with what he’s seeing now.

“He cares a lot,’’ Marshall said. “He’s always wanted to make a change.’’

At the black student union meetings at Nevada-Reno, Kaepernick was outspoken about issues such as attracting more African Americans to the campus, Bart-Plange said.

“He would let us know, we’ve got to get everybody unified,’’ Bart-Plange said. “The only way we’re going to get better is together, that’s how we’re stronger, power in numbers, educating each other.’’

Kaepernick’s increasing identification as African American began as soon as he arrived at Reno, according to Stewart. African Americans made up about 4% of the student body, but Stewart suggested the university's cultural diversity center gave Kaepernick an outlet to find his identity as an African American.

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“He may not have had a platform or vehicle to express blackness because that was not part of his community dynamic (in Turlock),’’ said Stewart, now the vice president for diversity and inclusion at Iowa State. “But the moment he got to college and he had access to a larger black community, there’s no way you can dispute that that was his college experience.’’

Once Kaepernick joined the fraternity, however, race remained an issue, according to Bart-Plange, who said some black students were jealous that Kaepernick got financial help from his white adoptive parents.

Bart-Plange said the issue came to a head during a party at Kaepernick’s place when an African American student made a comment about Kaepernick’s white parents paying rent.

“He set that guy straight,’’ Bart-Plange said. “He let him know how hard he does work for everything he has.’’

Zack Cook, who is biracial and a former president of the Kappa Alphi Psi chapter in Reno, said he felt a kinship with Kaepernick.

“It’s hard to know where you fit in because a lot of times you’re too black for your white friends and you’re too white for your black friends,'' Cook said. "Most people around you don't really understand. ...

"The more I got to know (Kaepernick), the more I realized how humble and how genuine a person he was. I remember being very impressed with the way he carried himself.''

During those years, Stewart said, he discussed with Kaepernick and other African American students how to express one’s views in an effective and non-aggressive way. He said he sees Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem as a manifestation of those talks.

“What he’s doing is absolutely and directly in line with how he’ s always communicated," Stewart said. “He is very, very smart and very intellectual. He’s a very deep thinker. And at some point, he made the decision that this was important enough for him to act.’’

Contributing: Nancy Armour, Martin Rogers

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