No-Shave Mo-vember for a Great Cause! (No relation with Boston Beards)

October 31^st, 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 1^st, 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 1^st and November 30^th 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!