The Pi Kappa Alpha national organization has suspended the University of Michigan chapter after members sent semi-nude photos of fraternity brothers and a party invitation to a sorority.
Tuesday's suspension followed the publication of the invitation and pictures on Friday on the website BroBible.com. The invitation and photos, sent to sorority Alpha Phi, show naked frat brothers covered in various ways by the American flag -- and in one case, a Jimmy John's sandwich.
Justin A. Buck, executive vice president of Pi Kappa Alpha, said on the group's website that the photos and invitation were "inappropriate and offensive."
"Clearly, these actions are neither in line with Pi Kappa Alpha’s values nor those of The University of Michigan," Buck said.
Ryan Lee, 19, president of the school's chapter of the fraternity, told the Detroit Free Press the photo and email were "satirical," and were never intended to be seen outside of the sorority.
"We did not mean to disrespect the sorority, veterans, America or the flag at all in the picture and we apologize if anyone was offended," Lee told the newspaper.
The email invitation begins:
Subject: Cute Puppies, Organic Gourmet, High Fashion, and How to Make Him Eat Your Box (aka URGENT!!!!)
Patriettes,
Do you love your homeland? We at Pike sure do. We read Whitman's poems by our fireplace and pour maple syrup on our apple pie. We hold Alexander Hamilton's belief that keg stands are not "a feat, but an expectation." We recognize His benevolence in bestowing upon us His great and Holy game of Football, and one of our sophomores drives a pick-up truck.
Tuesday evening, hours after the frat chapter's suspension, BroBible.com writer Andy Moore posted a follow-up to the photos and invitation that had touched off the tempest.
"This is a ridiculous overreaction and a blatant abuse of the national fraternity's power," Moore wrote. "Pike's national fraternity should reverse this ill-thought-out decision before any damage is done." Moore insisted the photos were "hilarious" and that the invitation was "equally humorous."
The photos and invitation also were published on BuzzFeed and on Jezebel.
The language of the email is mostly without expletives. "What is America? America is a place where drinking until you puke means drinking until you win," the invitation reads. "America invented the blunt. And LSD. ... America is the love child of 2 Chainz, Kate Upton, and Tim Tebow. America is the Doritos Locos taco and Mountain Dew Baja Blast."
The next paragraph suggests any woman not excited about the party is a "terrorist whore."
The Michigan Daily reported that the campus Intrafraternity council has not decided whether to issue disciplinary actions of its own.