By Bryce Mansfield–
It’s officially November, and the race is on as students partake in the widely known phenomenon of No-Shave November.
According to No-Shave.org, No-Shave November is a tradition that started in 2009, where men and women purposely avoid shaving. However, multiple sources confirm the origin of the modern tradition traces back to Australia in 2004, when a group of 30 men organized an event where they grew mustaches over the course of 30 days to raise awareness for prostate cancer.
Men that partake in the festivity usually treat it like a competition to see who can grow the most facial hair in a month’s time. However, one has to wonder: what started No-Shave November, and what is it really about?
“I thought it was something associated with a specific culture,” U of L student Phillip Bradley said. “I think it’s more personal. My friend Kevin shaves before the start of the month and then he’ll let his beard go the entire month to see where he can get to.”
“I typically will trim my beard to start with. During the month I just let it go, and then the beard goes as soon as it hits December,” U of L student Beau Kilpatrick said.
“I know it’s done to raise awareness about a certain cause, but I’m not sure what specific cause it focuses on,” U of L student Kayla Nash said.
The Louisville Cardinal polled Twitter users to see what campus participation would look like during No-Shave November this year. Out of 107 participants, 63 percent said they would not participate this year while 37 percent said they would.
When looking into the reason behind No-Shave November, all sources point to a similar cause: cancer awareness. During treatment, patients typically lose some, if not all, of their hair. The idea is that people who normally shave forego shaving for 30 days and donate the funds they would spend on shaving products to cancer foundations like The American Cancer Society and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Even though I don’t have much facial hair, I’ll still participate by donating money,” Bradley said.
“I honestly did not know what it was for. I just thought it was a competition between people,” Kilpatrick said. “It definitely changes how I look at it now and gives it so much more meaning.”
