Users of totalfratmove.com can go to a website with a sailboat background filled with advertising for khaki pants and boat shoes. Supposed fraternity and sorority members post comments, stories and pictures anonymously under monikers such as “brohemian fratsody,” “Stonewall Fratterson,” and “MRS w/honors.”
The “about us” section of the site informs readers that the blog is “a way for the upstanding members of this Nation’s finest Greek communities to share entertaining comments, stories and photos.”
However, quips such as “heard a couple GDIs complaining about the 8 percent tuition increase, made me wish they increased it by 30 percent. TFM [Total Frat Move],” have led students like Matt Dietrichson and Kristen Keiser, non-affiliated students, to believe users are anything but upstanding.
Dietrichson, a senior political science major, said he struggled for words after reading the site.
“I realize not all members of fraternities at our school fall into this category, but [the website] is frighteningly self-righteous,” he said.
Keiser, a senior graphic design major, said she felt the website was detrimental to Greek society.
Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Shannon Sumerlin said the only way to prevent portraying the Greek community in a negative light was to provide advising and training to leaders in fraternities and sororities.
She said she thought projecting the perceptions of individuals on the entire community was unjust to other students in the fraternity and sorority community. But because of the anonymity given to posters and the generality of posts, it wasn’t possible to sanction or punish posters.
Allison Schorr, a member of Pi Beta Phi, said she viewed the website as a source for humor and entertainment.
“I don’t think it’s offensive because it’s content people provide on their own,” Schorr, a senior strategic communication major, said.
Ian Cannon, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said the website is simply somewhere for people to be funny. He likened the website to other blogs such as textsfromlastnight.com.
“People like to post outrageous things to be funny,” said Cannon, a senior strategic communication major.
He said he was not personally offended by the posts, but he thought people could find anything offensive if they dug too deeply.
Parker Fleming, another member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said he thought the site perpetuated a stereotype of Greek students to the rest of campus.
“Joking about wearing jeans and boots and drinking whiskey and beating the crap out of freshmen just for the heck of it undermines what we stand for,” said Fleming, a sophomore economics major.
Sumerlin said the website had not been brought to the attention of Fraternity and Sorority Life as something it should be concerned about.
“Professionally I would be concerned about the images students are projecting on themselves and playing into their own stereotypes,” she said.
