Hypothesis Update

I plan to observe Greek life at UNC in order to learn more about their societal norms and values. I am interested in studying this microculture because I have numerous friends involved in it, yet I am not. In particular, fraternities are a major aspect of student life. Despite being a member of a fraternity, many other students come in contact with this community through social events and parties on the weekends. I would like to more clearly understand the behaviors and traditions that they are so actively involved in. Before observing these fraternities, I already know a little about them because both of my siblings were involved in fraternities and sororities in the past. I know that each fraternity has a certain amount of philanthropy that they take part in every year. Also, they meet once a week at chapter meetings in order to discuss upcoming events and other aspects. There seems to always be something planned for the members to participate in, and it keeps them very busy. These activities serve to create a bond between the members of each fraternity that is hard to understand if not directly involved.
Following my observations, I would like to know more about their sense of community and the activities that they take part in to build this unity. I believe there will be a lot more to their society than most people realize on the surface. Many people think they know a lot about fraternities just from hearsay, but most of these thoughts are usually inaccurate. Studying fraternity life at UNC is of great interest to the larger UNC community because so many students are actively involved in fraternities. It is a very important part of each of these student’s lives, and it is essential to understand such a major aspect of student life here in Chapel Hill. This could more accurately show what fraternity life entails without all the stereotypes that are often associated with these communities. Some of these stereotypes include that they party very often, they wear a certain type of preppy clothing including khaki pants and polo shirts, and they only hang out with each other. My hypothesis is that fraternity brothers have a deep sense of friendship with each other beyond the stereotypical social aspects, and there are many activities that allow this bond to occur.