Ethnography This ethnography report is on the student body council of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

After spending a couple days observing the student body council I have realized that their jobs are a lot more tedious than I had previously thought. Mitchel Daratony is the freshmen student body president, and the main perspective of my observations. President Daratony was kind enough to let me sit in his office a couple different times and conduct research. My first session of observation took place on the chilly day of November fourteenth, 2013. I arrived at Mitchels presidential office in the student union of UNC Charlotte at approximately 3:46 in the afternoon. It was a very comfortably temperature in his office. I presume it was somewhere around 70-72 degrees. The office was split into six sections all separated by walls. Each section had a nice desk, a couple chairs, and a very nice Apple desktop computer. It seemed to be a very nice, quiet, place to get work done and study. Mitchel Daratony was the only person present at the time of arrival. Upon entry to his office he greeted me very casually saying Hey man, how are you doing today? He greeted me with a very firm handshake which was expected considering his position. I noticed he was dressed very professionally, wearing a dress shirt, dress slacks, dress shoes, and a bow tie. He does have a full beard, but it doesnt seem to draw away from his professional appearance. I also acknowledged the fact that he seemed very happy to be there, sustaining a constant smile. After he had greeted me he invited me to sit down, and swiftly got back to work on his computer reviewing freshmen council applications. After observing President Daratony review freshmen council applications for about twenty minutes I came to the assumption that his job was very repetitive, at least on that day. He worked very persistently, acting as if I werent even there. I admire the fact that he seemed to be putting serious effort into election the right people for his office, and not just trying to get it over with. He proclaimed that every student who applied deserves to be fairly evaluated and considered equally for each position. I am impressed with the strong leadership attribute that President Daratony has, and the efficiency of his work. Thirty minutes into my observation another white male entered the office. This was Mitchel Daratonys Vice President, Parker James. He was dressed equally as professionally, wearing a tie instead of a bowtie. Upon entry he announced that he had a ridiculous amount of work to do, and asked Mitchel how the applications were coming. President Daratony proclaimed that they were going well but he had a lot more to review. He also complained a bit about having 3 papers to write and a test to study for. After this brief interaction Parker shook my hand equally as firmly, and proceeded to his computer.

After almost an hour of reviewing applications President Daratony began working on one of the three papers that he had to finish. He didnt seem as in tuned with these papers as he was with the applications because he was on his phone a lot more during this period of time. Mitchel is still getting work done, but not very productively at all. After about ten minutes of working he had only finished just under a paragraph. He had to get sworn into presidency at 5:00 so he left his office fifteen minutes in advance. President Daratony escorted me out of his office and told me hed be in touch about the next time we could meet. This concluded my first session of observation on the UNC Charlotte student body council. I began my second session of research on November eighteenth, 2013. When I arrived at the office at 12:48 in the afternoon, I noticed there were significantly more people this time. There were four people in the office, all male, three of which were white and one Indian. They all seemed to be working on separate assignments, and didnt make too much interaction with each other, or me. For the most part they were dressed casually, but not overly casually. Mitchel was wearing pastel shorts, Sperrys, and a long-sleeved polo shirt. When entering President Daratonys office this time I realized he had made it a bit more at home, adding pictures of his fraternity and his friends. Once we got settled in his office he asked if there was anything he could help me with and I told him that I would like to conduct an interview. He answered my questions very responsibly, for example; when asked what made him decide to take on the extra responsibilities of
being a council member, he responded with I wanted to get involved with more on campus activities, and have a significant impact on issues that go on around the school. He continued to explain how he is trying to become the overall student body president, and how he is dedicated to improving campus life for not only freshmen, but all students. When I asked him about the responsibility he told me I like the extra responsibility, its good for me. I like to challenge myself and push myself to be great. I am greatly impressed with his dedication to this position. President Daratony informed me that he had to go check on something after my interview was complete so I took the time to sit in with Vice President Parker James. Parker is dressed semiformally wearing khakis, and a button up shirt. Vice president James seems incredibly into his position, even more then President Mitchel, and seems to take it very seriously. I explained to him what all this research was about and he said well that doesnt seem too hard is there anything you need to

know? Or anything I can help you with? I then proceeded to ask him a variety of questions pertaining to his position. He talked to me how serious it is to be part of the council, and he joined because he is majoring in political science and wanted some experience. Apparently Parker and Mitchel were best friends in high school which is a main reason he is Mitchels VP. He seems really cool and hardworking. He explaining that hes not in a fraternity because of all the responsibilities he already has to deal with. Parker is a Double major, earning 18 credits per semester, and he has to sustain a 3.8+ GPA for his parents to pay his tuition. He went on to claim that Greek life is like buying friends.

Everybody in the council seems to have a very strong set of moral values. They are all very hardworking and persistent, and have a good outlook and what to do with their lives. The UNC Charlotte student body council is a huge responsibility on top of being a regular college student and the members of the council perform their responsibilities with a great amount of honor.