The “rager” months in the making is set to take place Monday night—only some of the college students the party’s being thrown for don’t want it.
Dubbed “Flagstock,” the event is being staged for the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill students who protected the American flag from being pulled down and touching the ground during a pro-Palestinian protest in April.
It was a group of roughly two dozen UNC fraternity members who guarded the flag, after the protestors had already taken it down once before. The image of them holding it up amidst the charged crowd that surrounded quickly went viral. The Trump campaign used the footage in videos. Several of the members spoke at July’s Republican National Convention.
Soon after the image caught fire, a GoFundMe was started by Republican analyst John Noonan to reward the boys for their efforts. “Commie losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make dumb demands of weak University Administrators,” he wrote in the GoFundMe. The “men of the UNC frats” deserve the best, he continued. “Help us raise funds to throw these frats the party they deserve, a party worthy of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud.”
The GoFundMe eventually raised more than $500,000. Country singer John Rich then stepped in, offering to host a concert in the frat boys’ honor. Artists Big & Rich, Aaron Lewis, John Ondrasik, and Lee Greenwood then joined the bill, and the concert was dubbed “Flagstock.” Thousands of tickets have been dispersed among the 10 fraternities involved in the flag ordeal.
But not all of the frat boys are thrilled about the party.
Several members of the UNC chapter of Alpha Epsilon Phi who spoke to The New York Times said they were disappointed that the money raised on their behalf was being allocated for a party, which seemed especially “callous” as the war in the Middle East continues.
“The use of our actions to promote a narrative that we were some right-wing, MAGA heroes has been a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to many of those who were actually there,” Oliver Levine, the president of the Alpha Epsilon Phi chapter, told the Times.
“You have this huge party with all of these people honoring us for what we did for the flag, but not as much honoring us for the Jewish piece that was the original reason we were all there,” Brendan Rosenblum, another member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, told the Times, noting that many of the frat members who had gone to the quad in the first place was to show support for Israel.
Leftover money is intended to be dispersed to charities backed by the fraternities that are “consistent with the theme of the fundraiser,” the GoFundMe post says.
Flagstock is set to kick off at 7:30 pm ET, and will be livestreamed. The Flagstock site is selling official merchandise, including a t-shirt that says “The Broletariat.”
Chapel Hill locals have been posting photos on X of the set up for the event, including folding tables with packages of red Solo cups on them, and a stage with a backdrop that reads, “Peace, Love & Happy Hour.”
