October 31st, a date many of us consider to be
Halloween, where dressing up, knocking on stranger’s doors to tell them jokes
and eating tons of chocolate is perfectly acceptable. But, for many men this
date resembles a time more important than carving pumpkins; it marks the eve of
No-Shave November.
This underground tradition goes back long before the caveman
era, back when Jesus made wearing a beard not only appropriate, but
stylish. Facial hair marked the sign of
a manly man. A man, that wrestled wolves
with his bare hands, fought off bears for fish in the streams and carried a
pocket knife in his pocket at all times for no apparent reason. Yes, a beard tells the world; “No longer do I
have peach fuzz, this is real man hair. Hear me roar!”
As a child, that first patch of fuzz that started showing on
your upper lip was exciting. Receiving a
free razor and shaving cream in the mail from Gillette was another epic point
in our lives, eager to start shaving like a man. Some of us couldn’t wait to start growing the
beard, in which case I’ll never forget my Grandpa Mallette giving me the manly
advice of, “Why don’t you put some cream on there and like the cat lick that
peach fuzz off.” That saying stuck with me.
No longer would peach fuzz be accepted for a man’s beard.
This concept of growing a “man’s beard,” becomes an
opportunity for guys in college to “test their wings” if you will. Thus, the No-Shave November aka Mo-vember was
created; a month to give the old razor a rest, and grow out the beard as far as
you can. Throughout my years at
Westminster College (a small, private, liberal-arts school) I found this
tradition to be very trendy. An
institution rich in history because of fellow gentleman, Winston Churchill’s
famous “Iron Curtain” speech, the campus is buzzing with anticipation for this
Mo-vember. The men of Kappa Alpha Order,
a fraternity on campus decided to capitalize on this masculine tradition with
the thought, why not grow for a cause?
And No-Shave for MDA was created! MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) has been
Kappa Alpha Order’s philanthropy and the men decided would be a great charity
to donate towards. This November 1st,
we will be collecting $5 donations on campus from faculty, staff and students
interested in growing their facial hair.
Pictures will be taken of the donor November 1st and November
30th to see who grew the Grizzliest Beard, The Sweetest ‘Stache and
the Most Creative facial hair and prizes will be given away to the winners. Even the ladies on campus can get
involved! No, they won’t be growing out
their own hair, but sponsoring their man in the fight to grow for a cause. Philanthropy has never been so easy, not to
mention fun! “You mean I can help a
charity by donating $5 and NOT have to shave for a month?” That’s right, use that $5 that you normally
use to buy razors, shaving cream, trimmers and aftershave and put it toward a
good cause!
Be that manly man with the beard or mustache, keep that face
or upper lip warm as the winter months approach us, and see how thick you can
grow your facial hair. #KAnoshave is trending at Westminster College
(@WestminsterMO) and we hope to raise as much money as we can for MDA. I'm sure if he could, Churchill would've grown a beard. So, if you see a guy on campus attempting to
grow the best possible beard he can, though it looks like a patch of fuzz,
understand he’s doing it for a great cause!
And remember, whether you grow a beard or mustache in No-Shave November,
it always grooms itself nicely as a cool Christmas ‘stache!
