I’m Shmacked, a film crew known for attending universities’ biggest college parties, documenting them on camera and posting them on YouTube for all to see, were in Tampa for the annual pirate invasion, Gasparilla.
Last semester, a crew calling themselves “I’m Shmacked” came to The University of Tampa and filmed a video that caused a great deal of controversy throughout the university and the Tampa community.
The video also affected many students on campus. Members of the Greek community were not allowed to wear their letters all week, and members of the athletic department weren’t allowed to be at the parties, otherwise they would face severe consequences.
“They absolutely took more precautions. Numerous emails and notices were sent out to girls to be weary of the cameras and to make sure we acted appropriately as we are representing our chapter,” said Allegra Mirrione, a freshman, secondary English education major and sister of Delta Zeta.
Once the video went live on YouTube, rumors quickly spread that the video was a fake. This rumor was confirmed when a tweet was posted from the official I’m Shmacked‘s Twitter page, stating:
“I wish the school knew that [the] Tampa video that was uploaded from tampa was not us, not promoted by us, not released by us and not filmed by us.”
Then they followed up with more tweets:
“It’s uploaded on a random YouTube page with our name in the title…it makes the school look horrible and is wrongly represented as our work.”
Despite the controversy and everything going on, I’m Shmacked still came for Gasparilla.
“Still going to try to make a solid video but it’s going to be tough to get the right people in it now the school is against it,” I’m Shmacked tweeted.
On Jan. 22, the Dean of Students, Stephanie Russell Krebs, sent out a global message titled ‘Is it worth it?’ The email warned students while there may not be any consequences now, there might be in the future.
“You run the risk of damaging your own reputation and potentially decreasing the value and perception of your future UT Degree. I urge you to steer clear of this, or any other, situation that may put you at risk of embarrassing yourself or your University,” Krebs said.
Despite all of the warnings given by administration, some students still love the concept of I’m Shmacked.
“It is good for the students because they create a better party environment, but bad for the administration because they worry about the image of the school, but in the end all the images that appear in the video happen every weekend without I’m Shmacked here,” freshman and finance major Alejandro Sanchez said.
I’m Shmacked was started two years ago in 2012 by its founder and CEO, Arya Toufanian.
“We film universities and throw parties across the nation with our friends. Along the way we make new friends and we document all of it,” Toufanian said.
Toufanian plans on releasing the new video within a week after it was filmed.
“Sorry that Tampa got the wrong idea, we hope this video will help you understand what we are about,” he said.
Other students are not as forgiving to what I’m Shmacked stands for and what the organization is trying to accomplish.
“Personally, I believe that I’m Shmacked creates a poor and inaccurate representation of college campuses, especially Greek life,” international business & marketing major and junior Emma Carter said. “Toufanian makes a living by, in [my] opinion, ruining the lives of anyone who is unfortunate enough to end up in the video, lowering the perceived value of the degree received at any of the colleges that he has filmed at.”
Despite varying opinions, many students are waiting for the new video to come out before making any more judgements on I’m Shmacked and to see whether or not they will be represented fairly.
“They are just publicizing the events kids are participating in while at school and with kids partying is a big thing so amongst students,” freshman and communication major Leila Rugambarara said. “You don’t know when the video could be used against you.”