If the men in your life appear to be unkempt and disheveled, they might be raising testicular cancer awareness.
    “No Shave November” is an annual tradition in which participants shun the use of razors for the month, a tradition the members of Delta Upsilon take seriously – in a light way. Quentin Hoover, sophomore in finance and member of DU, said he decided to head up the event this year.
    “It’s just really fun, we’re doing it mostly for enjoyment,” he said. “Most of our house is doing it.”
    Hoover also said there are categories of competition for the DU members, including “Fullest beard,” “Rankest beard” and “Most creative beard.”
    “The winners will most likely get a Chipotle gift card or something,” he said. “It’s just a great tradition; it builds brotherhood.”
    The tradition, however, didn’t start in the U.S. According to a 1999 broadcast of the Australian news program “Seven Nightly News,” a group of young Australian men claimed to have come up with idea of growing mustaches, and often beards, for charity, spawning “Movember” — a combination of mustache and November. Eventually, word spread and “Movember” grew into a full-fledged foundation in 2004, supporting awareness of men’s health issues.
    Since then, the American counterpart “No Shave November” has gained popularity, with more men participating each year; enthusiasts will tell you to start with a clean-shaven face on Oct. 31, and facial hair touch-ups are off limits until December. 
    Anthony Marshall, graduate student in secondary education and Moore Hall resident assistant, said the men who live on the first floor of Moore are going “shave free” this month. Jared Cook, freshman in open option and first-floor Moore resident, said he and about 15 other residents are growing out their facial hair.
    “Nobody likes to shave,” Cook said. “This is a good excuse to not shave and look, how should I say it, grotesque?”
    Cook said the men on the floor like to joke with each other about their hairy appearances.
    “I’m looking pretty bushy,” Cook said. “I going for mutton chops; it looks like Wolverine off ‘X-Men.’”
    Braden Thomas, freshman in open option, said he is also participating in the month-long event for fun.
    “Well, I know a lot of people that are doing it,” he said. “My friends said I should do it, so, like a lemming, I did. I had a lot of facial hair before, so I shaved it all off, so it would grow back even.”
    Nate Edwards, senior in mechanical engineering, said this isn’t his first unshaven November.
    “This is my second year,” Edwards said. “I do think testicular cancer is an important cause to support. There are over 8,000 cases that are diagnosed every year. It is a sacrifice, having a beard actually seems to take more time. It takes longer to dry my beard than my head hair.”
    Brent Dunkel, graduate student in mechanical engineering, also is a “No Shave November” veteran.
    “I started about four or five years ago,” Dunkel said. “I try to get my friends to do it every year. It’s always a way to bond with my friends; I try and get everyone to do it. We have fun with it and laugh at each other.”
    Jordan Bishop, junior in engineering, said he decided to participate in “No Shave November,” but the itchiness became too much to bear.
    “I was doing it, but it got really itchy and I had to give in,” Bishop said. “Plus, I had an interview for a job and didn’t want to give the wrong impression.”
    According to Roger Allerheiligen, owner of Campus Hairstyling, this itchiness is to be expected.
    “During the first few days, your face is going to itch a lot,” he said. “Your face is used to producing new skin and getting rubbed off when you shave. That’s actually where a lot of the itching comes from.”
    Even if you can resist the itch, there might be other reasons to shave. Besides job interviews, students with similar work situations might find it unacceptable to keep facial hair for an entire month. According to the Housing and Dining Services employee manual, “Men working in dining services must be clean shaven.”
    Gary Wood, owner of the Wildcat Barber Shop, said though local men might be avoiding shaving this month, he has not seen a noticeable decline in clientele, but he might see an increase in December.
    Allerheiligen said when men decide to shave after a month of growing out hair, they should be sure to approach it as a process to get the best results.
    “When it’s time to shave, you’re going to use a whole tank of hot water to get it all off, I recommend getting clippers and getting the beard down to a stub. It’s a lot easier when you have short stubble.”
    As for Cook, he said he is looking forward to shaving.
    “As soon as Dec. 1 rolls around, this is coming off,” he said.

For more information on "No Shave November," visit noshavenovember.org.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Verify you are human:

Enter the characters in the image above: