With the start of November comes chillier weather, darker nights and countless hoards of very hairy men. No-shave November is gracing WSU with its presence again this year, but the notorious phenomenon is more than meets the mustache.
No-Shave November, also known as Movember, is the event where males attempt to not shave their hair, facial and otherwise, all throughout the month of November. Many young adults participate in the event, but some have take it a step further. Movember is being used to spread awareness and raise money for men’s health, specifically for prostate and other cancers.
The Movember fundraiser is a national movement, but it is now being implemented locally.
“Three days before November, I had the idea to start a campaign in Pullman,” senior architecture and advertising major Isaiah Adona said. “We want to stir up awareness and culture.”
Adona is a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. He is part of the Board of Trustees and helps oversee all of the Phi Kappa Theta chapters that exist nationally. Through his efforts, his fraternity decided to make Movember one of the nonprofit organizations they support.
To promote Movember on campus, T-shirts are being sold. They are $13 each and can be found online at kotisdesign.com/mocougs. Proceeds go to the Movember foundation, which funds programs like the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong: The Lance Armstrong Foundation. Visit us.movember.com for more information about the program.
“We worked hard with the designs to get the best and most affordable shirts, simple, but also cater to Movember,” Adona said.
As another way to spread awareness, Adona created a Facebook page and group, named “Mo Cougs, Mo Stache.” Students can join to stay in tune with the Movember events. A fact video about men’s health will be uploaded daily. Visit facebook.com/MoCougs to get involved.
Members of the Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity will be on the Glenn Terrell mall and in the CUB, handing out stickers and self-adhesive mustaches with facts about men’s health. Female students can partake in the festivities by wearing the self-adhesive facial hair given out or by drawing mustaches on their face or finger. Participants in Movember who sport mustaches, real or fake, can win prizes.
The student who is spreading awareness through donning the best mustache can win a free haircut every Monday from Blades and Fades Barbershop, located on Grand Avenue in Pullman. On the last Monday of the month, the business is giving out a free shave. Zoe Coffeehouse, the deli and pub located under the Interfaith House on campus, is giving away a $10 gift card every Wednesday. South Fork Public House, a new pub located on Grand, is giving away gift cards every Friday. Adona and the rest of the Movember coordinators choose students who are spreading the best awareness usually through their mustaches.
Phi Kappa Theta members walk around campus attempting to spot the best ‘stache. Winners will be contacted on Facebook or called directly. Their pictures will be posted to the MoCougs Facebook page, and they will receive one of the above prizes.
“It’s an interactive experience. People can participate any way,” senior Spanish major Tom Gilbert said. “This is about having fun, raising awareness and school pride.”
Gilbert is a good friend of Adona and has worked with him on various creative projects. He currently helps with the videos, Facebook, planning and photography elements of Movember.
“We have a passion for art and visual media and inspire these things with a functional application,” Gilbert said. “What’s more functional than charity?”
For Adona, charity has always been important to him; Movember, in particular, has a special meaning.
“I’ve always been a philanthropist at heart. I have a pretty broad worldview, and I’ve seen how cancer can deteriorate somebody,” Adona said. “My mom still battles with breast cancer. Other guys in my fraternity have been affected by it.”
A WSU and Phi Kappa Theta alumni, Dave Vensis’, father passed away from cancer. Vensis now works for Kodis and helped design the shirts being sold for Movember.
Students can also support the cause by directly donating to Movember at mobro.co/MoCougs.
Both Gilbert and Adona agree that the atmosphere of Pullman will greatly contribute to Movember’s success locally.
“There are a lot of things here that bring people together at WSU,” Gilbert said. “We are using the community and culture here on campus as a means to accelerate (Movember).”
Gilbert and Adona have other goals aside from raising awareness during Movember.
“Our main goal is spreading awareness and trying to raise funds, but the third is getting other individuals inspired to give back to the community. The WSU and Pullman community really bred these qualities,” Adona said.
Adona hopes students will be inspired by his efforts to start their own organizations.
“Through this campaign, we can inspire others to start their own fundraisers and really utilize the unity Cougs have,” Adona said.
Many participants in Movember, or “Mo Bros,” as they’re called on Movember.com, partake in No Shave November for reasons other than raising cancer awareness. Several males see this as a challenge, and a chance to be competitive among their friends. Junior neurology major Bryan Clark is an example of this.
“Me and my roommates have an agreement that the first person to shave has to wash all the dishes for the rest of the month because we all hate doing dishes.” Clark said.
Clark typically participates in No Shave November because it’s something his friends do, and it gives him a different look. He said he is usually unsuccessful, however.
“I usually cave in the first couple days because I don’t usually like looking like I’m homeless,” Clark said.
Whether it’s to raise cancer awareness or just for fun, Movember and the countless amounts of facial hair that come with it is here to stay, at least until December.
