Within the context of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, there are a multitude of microcultures that exist. For the purposes of my studies, I will be focusing on the historically black, male fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, casually known as the Kappas. Having attended some of their functions and met a couple of the members, I find myself intrigued by the persona of a Kappa and the fraternity itself. Even if I had not been attendance to their functions or met a couple of the members, their presence and influence at the university is profound and distinct; it is difficult to ignore.
As stated earlier, the Kappas are an all male, historically black fraternity. Of all the historically black fraternities at the university, the Kappas are one of the most prominent and popular. A typical Kappa can be described as intelligent, charismatic, outgoing, driven and up to date on the latest trends and fashions. To be a Kappa is to be at the epicenter of popular, urban culture and to maintain a conscious stance on various programs, politics and other mediums that cater to the advancement of young, driven and promising black youth. With their social appeal and consciousness to those topics, the members of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity play a large part on campus. Many people can come into contact with them in a variety of realms, such as academics, athletics, social, etc. With that daily contact with the many realms of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill culture, the Kappas play a large role in shaping those various realms, ultimately acting as active agents of culture shaping. As an active agent, the Kappas provide an interesting perspective to how microcultures shape and affect culture and the importance of their affect on larger cultures. I hypothesize that the Kappas, as a microculture, provide and help shape the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill culture in many facets through their intensive social networking, which includes their casual social life and organized, fraternity activity.
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Reading these hypotheses makes me realize how little I know about our campus.
ReplyDeleteI knew we had a historically black fraternity, but I didn't know anything about it. I think that your subject is really intriguing - I wish I knew more groups of people at UNC... It's interesting how differently students interpret life at UNC, or I guess, life in general.