UNC frat brothers who protected American flag at protest raise $50K (2024)

A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $50,000 in several hours to throw a party for members of a fraternity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who went viral for their efforts to protect an American flag during a campus protest this week.

The incident occurred at UNC Chapel Hill's main quad on Tuesday, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators replaced the U.S. flag with a Palestinian flag, sparking clashes between protestors and counter-protestors amid wider demonstrations.

Brothers of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity stepped in to ensure the American flag did not touch the ground as they faced verbal insults, according to footage circulating on social media. Video captures the students upholding the flag while being targeted by a group of protestors hurling objects at them.

A GoFundMe campaign titled "Pi Kappa Phi Men Defended their Flag. Throw 'em a Rager" was launched Wednesday morning. The original goal was for $15,000 but has since been raised to $35,000, and then $50,000. Within hours after launching, the fundraiser was well on its way to eclipsing its latest goal.

"These boys—no, men—of the UNC Chapel Hill Pi Kappa Phi, gave their best to America, and now they deserve the best," the GoFundMe campaign reads.

"Help us raise funds to throw this frat the party they deserve, a party worth of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud."

Newsweek attempted to contact both the fundraising organizer and the fraternity but received no immediate response.

UNC is among the elite U.S. universities embroiled in heated demonstrations related to Israel's war in Gaza. Before the flag incident on Tuesday, three dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested for failing to disperse after clashing with police. Of the 36 people arrested, 10 were students at the university, according to local media reports.

'It upset me'

Guillermo Estrada, a UNC student and member of Pi Kappa Phi, described the scene on social media, writing on X: "It upset me that my country's flag was disrespected to advocate for another."

UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts personally walked to the quad to help raise the U.S. flag back to its position when it was removed from the flagpole. After that, Estrada said, pro-Palestinian protesters again attempted to remove it.

"As the Chancellor left, the Pro-Palestinians began removing the flag once again. My fraternity brothers and I ran over to hold it up to prevent it from touching the ground. People began throwing water bottles, rocks, and sticks at us, calling us profane names. We stood for an hour defending the flag that so many fight to protect," Estrada recounted.

This incident at Chapel Hill came amid a series of nationwide protests that originated at Columbia University in New York City two weeks ago, when students established an encampment demanding the university divest from companies with links to Israel over its war in Gaza.

That war followed a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7 of last year, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 34,000 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run local health ministry.

Inspired by the Columbia students, similar protests have emerged on various campuses across the country in recent weeks.

As universities prepare for commencement ceremonies this month, efforts to clear the encampments have varied. Some schools, such as Northwestern, have engaged in negotiations with the demonstrators. Others, including Columbia, have called in the police after efforts to find a resolution failed. At USC, the main commencement ceremony was scrapped altogether.

On Tuesday night, New York police officers in riot gear stormed a building at Columbia University that had been illegally occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. At the same time, across the country at UCLA, clashes erupted into chaos when a large group of counter-demonstrators dressed in black outfits and white masks entered the campus and attempted to tear down barricades surrounding that campus' encampment.

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