In every fraternity, there’s always that one guy who stands out amongst his peers. You’ll see him rep-ing sleeveless letter shirts at White Building with his pre-workout bottle, lining up several girls to shotgun with him during tailgates, and, of course, sporting sock-less Sperries that smell like a sewage treatment plant. Some people might call these guys try-hards, or those bros who will never actually graduate and continue to hit on freshmen when they’re on their super-super-senior victory lap. Maybe that’s true for some of them, or maybe we tend to stigmatize them this way because we’re jealous of their popularity. Either way, it’s pretty obvious who we're talking about here - the frat stars. They’re the most powerful Greeks on the social scene, inevitably welcomed into any fraternity and obsessed over by just about every sorority girl. It seems that there’s a little confusion as to what a frat star is or what qualities make a guy one, so I decided to see for myself what the general consensus was. *Note: this article is satirical and does not reflect an accurate depiction of fraternity life at Penn State.
Some would say it’s the more subtle behaviors that give you the hint that the guy is a frat star.
“You have to care more about yourself than anything else,” said Delta Tau Delta Junior Ryan Brong.
I’m assuming he’s referring to the guys who wouldn’t be caught dead in public without a collared shirt, watch and a couple ounces of stiff gel in their hair.
Our non-Greek correspondent Garrett Zeiler decided to weigh in on the issue.
“You must never be caught on the dance floor getting an OTPHJ, and the only way to shotgun is biting the can,” he said.
Seems almost like common sense.
More notably, there’s a very distinct aura surrounding these rowdy gents. By the way they dress and the confidence they carry with them, you almost instinctively know when you’re in their presence.
“I think it’s someone who is overly confident and wears their letters more than sorority girls [is a frat star]. They rock the Sperry or Timbs look, maybe coupled with Vineyard Vines or Polo, and like to show to their friends they rock the 5-5 chill pull ratio...but we love them,” said Delta Zeta Junior Emma Grecco
Sigma Kappa Junior Jacklyn O’Connor also agrees that the look and amount of confidence are key features of fratstars.
“You couldn’t be in a frat if you didn’t own Timbs, Sperries, or a pair of pastel-colored Chubbies, and you also need to have some game when talking to girls,” she said.
From a guy’s perspective, Delta Tau Delta Junior Mike Markunas explains how these dudes don’t take very many days off.
“No matter where you go in the world you always have to make sure you’re fratting...always making sure your dress is frat, always wearing Sperry’s, and never [messing] with cargos.”
Beyond your physical appearance and attitude, the common argument seems to be that frat stars are the true faces of their fraternity.
“Frat stardom stems from someone’s drive to dominate Fratland, and is only achieved when he is renowned as the face of his fraternity and fraternities as a whole,” said Kappa Delta Rho Sophomore Tom Friel
"In addition, you've always got to be down to be a bro. Even if there’s a night you don’t want to go out, you still have to go because you’re the face of the house and people are expecting you to put on," Markunas said.
It certainly doesn’t seem easy to be on top of Greek life. After reading Junior of Lambda Chi Alpha Connor Camp's opinion, I think you’ll start to sympathize more.
“It’s not easy being a frat star. There’s an expected level of performance from you. It’s a heavy burden to bear, and putting the team on your back ain’t easy. Sometimes you just wanna sit the night out, make some popcorn, drink wine and watch Netflix with your besties, but you know you’ve gotta go out to the frat castles, drink [crappy] alcohol, flex on THOTs and stomp on elevated surfaces, while listening to straight ignorant rap like Flocka and Smurda.”
With their relentless dedication to fraternity life, fratstars reap all the social benefits. Odds are, they’re some of the most popular guys in Greek Life.
“The key is popularity. If you suck, you’re not going to be a frat star,” said Junior Matt Magitti. “You gotta have the sickest chill-to-pull ratio."
“Being able to get into any other frat's party no problem without having to push through the mob of people out front is a quality of a frat star," said Junior of Kappa Kappa Gamma Kristin Sullivan "And definitely getting invited to every sorority's dated functions."
Even non-Greeks like Zeiler understand the importance of fluently speaking the female language.
“There are girls that are in sororities, sorority girls and then the srasts…know how to interact with each respective species,” he said.
Everybody seems to know these dudes, or at least they've heard of them. And while the reputation of your fraternity can definitely heighten your social status, it’s your attitude and the connections you have that matter most, as Camp again explains it so eloquently.
“Being a frat star is just not giving a &$%^," he said. "Doesn’t matter what house you’re in, as long as you’re the face of it. Every frat has one - sometimes it’s the social chair, sometimes it’s a rando, but basically it boils down to whoever can get in wherever they want, and knowing everybody at the party.”
So they’re extremely socially active - is that really a bad thing? Junior of Pi Beta Phi Laura Vining wanted to clear the air on what truly makes up the essence of a frat star.
“Despite the stigma that the word frat star carries, I think you have to be a genuinely nice and down-to-earth guy to be considered one," she said. "To me, a fratstar is someone who everyone loves because they’re friendly, and they actively try meet as many people as possible.”
Some say they’re self-obsessed. Others think they don’t give a crap about anything. Guys and girls may have slightly different opinions, but either way, it’s pretty clear that these guys are some of the most social people on campus. I guess the definition of a fratstar really depends on who you talk to.
“I felt pretty tarf the other day when I was chilling on Old Main lawn with my bros tossing the Frisbee in my absolute dopest cargo shorts with my lanyard hanging out of my pocket,” Camp said.
God bless that kid.
