Brotherhood, Masculinity, and Social Capital: Fraternities At The University Of The Philippines Diliman

The paper is based on the study of college fraternities rooted in traditions of bond and loyalty at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), the country’s premier state university campus. Tracing their roots in the early 1900s, UPD fraternities have built a vast network of brotherhood ties connecting various generations of men, from college students to  professionals who now occupy leadership positions and status in government, private and corporate sectors in the Philippines. The study looks into the identity formation of young men, including the quest to be part of a trust-based social network to affirm masculinity, survive the competitive challenges or enjoy the adventures  presented by college life, and assure paths to social capital and professional status.

The paper discusses how young men gravitate to fraternities for constructive aims such as academic excellence and socio-civic service, on the one hand, and become embroiled in antisocial violent behaviors within their group or in conflict with rival fraternities on the other. Such violence in gang fights and  hazing rites has claimed the lives of at least eleven, and injured hundreds of young college men in the history of the university. The concepts social capital, identity and masculinity are utilized to understand the meaning of "brotherhood", the origin and shifts in orientation and behavior of the group and individual members over generations. The study analyzed documents supplied by fraternities, and examined the narratives of fraternity "brods" or members from various generations or cohorts since the 1950s to the present.