November is here, which means campus is finally beginning to look more like fall.  The trees are changing colors, pumpkin spice lattes have returned and beards are growing longer.

No-Shave November has officially started, and students across campus have committed to allowing their hair to grow out for the whole month. The movement is a fairly recent development, and in 2009 a Chicagoland family, the Hills, decided to use it to raise money for charity after their father passed away from colon cancer.

According to the official No-Shave November website, the event is described as “a month-long journey in which participants forgo shaving and grooming to evoke conversation and raise cancer awareness.” For those that do not want to commit to being hairy for a month but still want to support the cause, the website sells No-Shave November t-shirts and bracelets.

Some students participate in No-Shave November to raise awareness about the original cause, but others use the month as an excuse to just avoid shaving or to simply try to grow a beard for fun.

Amaan Khan, sophomore in AHS, has had his beard since his senior year of high school.  He has participated in No-Shave November for the past two years.

“Shaving is really annoying, painful, and inconvenient … and it’s really cool to see how much your facial hair can grow and how different you look because right after you shave you look like a completely new person,” Khan said.

Max Kruse, graduate student in Business, also tries to participate every year, but sometimes has had to shave early for interviews if his beard has not grown in enough.

“It’s fun not to shave for a while and see what you end up with,” Kruse said.

Barbers and hairstylists on campus agreed that the majority of their male customers choose to participate in No-Shave November.

“I would say a good 70 percent, maybe even 80, participate,” said Dave Denzer, barber at Dave and Gene’s Barber Shop, who has been cutting hair for more than 27 years.

Miranda Purcell, hairstylist at Lando Hairstyling, said that even customers who do not normally grow facial hair also participate in No-Shave November.  This year, the top facial hair trend seems to be a full, trimmed beard.

Purcell said “the full beard and mustache, just short in length” seems to be what she sees most on guys.

Many barbers, hairstylists, and students, like Kahn, also point out that guys often grow beards to make themselves look older, and if a beard can be grown, it usually improves a person’s appearance. 

“The beard is like contouring for a man, and honestly I think beards make people look a lot better. Some people still look great without it, but you look more mature with it, and I think it just defines your face better, especially if it’s kept well and trimmed,” Khan said.

Lyssa Lampert, hairstylist at LookAfter Hair Company, said guys also grow beards to feel more confident.

“I think it makes them feel more manly … it just gives them a more rugged feel,” Lampert said.

Kahn said he believes guys grow beards to show off their masculinity.

“It obviously defines you as a man, and it shows how you have changed over the course of the years and your maturity and the peak of your masculinity,” Khan said.

[email protected]