The image went viral as protests over the Israel-Hamas war rattled college campuses around the country last spring: two dozen or so fraternity members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shielding a wrinkled American flag from pro-Palestinian protesters who had already taken it down once.
Republicans, including former President Donald J. Trump, were quick to highlight the episode in speeches and videos. But a GoFundMe campaign created for the fraternity brothers captured the most attention. Its organizer, John Noonan, who has worked for a number of Republicans in Washington, wrote on the GoFundMe page that “commie losers” had invaded college campuses and that the U.N.C. “Brohemians” had protected the flag from an “unwashed Marxist horde.”
So, Mr. Noonan said, he needed America’s help to “throw ’em a rager.”
In less than a week, he raised $515,492. A moment of heated emotions over the war in Gaza had become the impetus for a giant party that Mr. Noonan said would feature beer, country music and Greek organizations.
The party, which Mr. Noonan is calling “Flagstock,” is scheduled for Labor Day — the location has not been disclosed because of security concerns — and will feature musical guests closely aligned with Mr. Trump. But despite all the pomp, it has prompted frustrations on the Chapel Hill campus, most notably from many of the fraternity brothers who surrounded the flag on the school’s quadrangle that day in April.
In interviews, several members of the U.N.C. chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity, said they were disappointed that the money raised on their behalf was paying for a party. They said they would rather that a significant portion of the money go to a charity that supports Jewish organizations or relief efforts in Gaza.
The “rager,” they said, felt callous given that it grew out of a painful moment for both Jews and Palestinians — all as the war in the Middle East continued.
“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,” said Oliver Levine, a junior at the university and the president of its Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter.
Members of other fraternities had a rosier view of the party, saying it was simply about uniting around patriotism.
Jason Calderon, a sophomore and the president of school’s Zeta Beta Tau chapter, told reporters during a Zoom news conference on Wednesday that “the outpouring of people interested in coming to the event, and the outpouring of support” from U.N.C. students had been overwhelming. The news conference was organized by the public relations team for John Rich, a country singer who will perform at the party along with Aaron Lewis and Lee Greenwood, whose song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” is played at Mr. Trump’s rallies.
Mr. Calderon said that Flagstock was supposed to be “about coming together, rather than separating people apart.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi members said that about 15 of those defending the flag on April 30 were from their fraternity but that members of other fraternities stood with them. They added that they respected the rights of pro-Palestinian groups to protest.
U.N.C. Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian group that had members at the April protest, said in a statement that removing the American flag was “a valid form of protest against the atrocities the U.S. and Israel are inflicting on Palestinians.”
Many of the fraternity members on the quadrangle that day, Alpha Epsilon Pi members noted, had come to show support for Israel and their Jewish faith.
“You have this huge party with all of these people honoring us for what we did for the flag,” said Brendan Rosenblum, 23, a senior and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, “but not as much honoring us for the Jewish piece that was the original reason we were all there.”
Mr. Noonan, who worked for the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush, among other jobs in Republican circles, declined to be interviewed on the record. But he said during the news conference that “our brains are trained to think charitable donations good, giant frat rager is bad and frivolous.”
According to the GoFundMe page, some of the proceeds will go to several charities, including Back the Blue N.C., which supports law enforcement, Wounded Warrior Project and Zeta Beta Tau’s foundation that combats antisemitism. Susan Ralston, who is helping organize the party and used to work in Republican politics, including as a White House liaison for George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign, said she and Mr. Noonan would disclose how much money went to charity after the party.
GoFundMe said in a statement that “fund-raiser organizers are prohibited from utilizing the funds raised for any purpose other than what is clearly outlined in the campaign description.”
Erin Spandorf, a spokeswoman for U.N.C.-Chapel Hill, said that “the university upholds and supports the freedoms of others to assemble,” but she noted that the party was not a university-sponsored event.
Conservatives’ treatment of the fraternity brothers as heroes continued after the viral moment. Seven of them appeared at the Republican National Convention in July carrying American flags. Alex Johnson, 20, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, said in a speech at the convention that “when a mob tried to take down the American flag on our campus, we knew we couldn’t let that happen.”
Shortly after the Republican convention, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel shouted out the fraternity members while delivering a speech to Congress in Washington, eliciting chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
Zachary Serinsky, 19, a sophomore chemistry major and member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said that he felt like the counterprotest in April was being made “into a joke” because of the party.
“We went through this horrific day, we were there supporting our faith, our beliefs, and then also supporting America,” Mr. Serinsky said. “To put all that money toward a party feels kind of like a slap in the face.”
He does not plan on attending.
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