With No Shave November in full swing, men across campus are looking for ways to show off the beautiful facial hair they are working to grow out. While some men may not be able to accomplish the full Robertson family style beard made famous by the cast of “Duck Dynasty,” there are plenty willing to try.
No Shave November began in 2003 when two men from Melbourne, Australia decided to bring the mustache back in style. They then vowed not to shave their mustaches for the next 30 days. They called their movement “Movember.”
The next year, the movement took off and the group was able to raise $40,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia with only 450 people registered. Now, a decade later, men are not only growing their mustaches out, but also their beards during November.
As competitive as men can get sometimes it seems only natural that competitions would arise to see who could grow the manliest beard in Murray.
Thursday marked the first year the Beard and Mustache Growing Contest was held in the Carr Health Building. Proceeds from the event benefited Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) by the Lakes. CASA is a foundation that provides children that have been abused a special advocate to speak on their behalf whenever they have court appearances.
The contest was open to the community along with students, faculty and staff. There were 10 participants registered for the contest, eight of whom were students. The other two competitors were a community member and a staff member Robert Long, professor of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services.
Annalee Schuette, sophomore from Mount Vernon, Ill., was one of the organizers of the event, and said the idea for the competition started as a class project for a youth and non-profit leadership class.
“The group I work with for the class was approached by a representative from CASA and asked if we would be willing to do this as a fundraiser for one of our projects,” Schuette said. “Before the event even happened we were able to raise almost $450.”
Schuette and her teammates had a booth set up in the Curris Center weeks prior to the event encouraging students to vote for which man had the best beard by dropping money in the participant’s can with the best beard taped to it. The winner of the Golden Beard Award would be the person who was able to raise the most money prior to the contest.
Other prizes handed out last night included the awards for the Most Original, Thickest Beard, Longest Beard, Best Effort, Si Award (reminiscent of Si Robertson, of “Duck Dynasty”) and the Tom Selleck Award.
The competition was open to not only men with big beards, but also men who wanted to show off their impressive mustaches. The cost to enter the contest with either a beard or a mustache was $5, and to enter both was $10.
Prizes for the winners included a variety of different gift cards from places like Dominoes Pizza to different barber shops or gift cards to auto shops to receive free oil changes for their vehicles.
With men across campus participating in No Shave November, a question that might arise is what women on campus think about the yearly hairy trend.
“I don’t mind a little scruff,” said Celeste Chockley, senior from Washington, Ill. “I definitely do not like a full-fledged beard though. Although, I am looking forward to seeing all the different types of beards men can grow.”
Story by Breanna Sill, Staff writer
