Students will sport scruff

By Anant Subramaniam     10/29/09 7:00pm

For those of you who missed Muttonchops March this year, fear not: No Shave November begins Sunday. Participants in the month-long event, sponsored by the Hanszen College Men's Resource Center, are expected to allow their facial hair to grow undisturbed from Nov. 1-30. All proceeds from the campaign will go to support the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation, Hanszen sophomore Josh Herzstein said.

There are three levels to choose from while going without a razor: "Peach Fuzz," where the participant can trim whenever he or she wants; "Lumberjack," where he will be expected to grow a beard, but may trim for Esperanza and Thanksgiving; and "Uberman/Hobo," where shaving or trimming is prohibited, Herzstein said. Brown College senior Chris Chen, who is helping to coordinate the event, said women could also participate in the event by abstaining from shaving the areas they normally shave.

Participants are expected to either sponsor themselves for the event or to find friends willing to sponsor them. Herzstein said the fundraising goals for each level are $15 for "Peach Fuzz," $20 for "Lumberjack" and $30 for "Uberman/ Hobo." T-shirts bearing a bearded picture of President David Leebron are also being produced for the event; they come free with the "Uberman/Hobo" level and can also be purchased separately.

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Those interested in participating can refer to manila envelopes in their college's commons - where they can find sign-up information, pay for the event or order the official T-shirt - or by e-mailing hairyowl&64;gmail.com.

At a barbecue at the end of November, participants and friends will be able to admire each other's beards. Herzstein said the MRC is requesting $50 from each residential college to fund the barbecue, which will take place at a location still to be determined.

Chen said the idea originally came from his suitemate, Brown senior Casey Michel. Chen, who studied abroad in New Zealand last spring, said the two were shaving earlier this fall when they started talking about a No Shave November in Australia, used to raise money for prostate cancer research, that Michel witnessed when he studied there the fall of his junior year.

"When we started, it was just kind of a joke because we always wanted to see our roommate's beard because he's really hairy, but we just got the ball rolling and before we knew it we were talking to the Hanszen's Men's Resource Center," Chen said.

Chen said he and Michel collaborated with the MRC so that there would be a more legitimate organization to back their cause. Originally, they wanted to merge No Shave November with the MRC's prostate cancer run to help sponsor prostate cancer research, but Chen said it did not work out because the run is a spring event.

"Being a guy, that's a pretty important part of all of our lives, and we decided it was a worthwhile cause," Chen said.

He said he was unsure how many people would participate in the event.

"We're expecting the highest yield to be from Brown and Hanszen because all the people coordinating the events are from these two colleges," Chen said.

About 20 people from Brown have signed up so far, he said.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed that hopefully it'll be big enough to have some kind of exposure for testicular cancer," Chen said.

Although most of the participants are male, Chen said a few women are participating, most of whom are his and Michel's close friends. However, Chen noted that he had also gotten his lab technician, a staff member, to participate.

"Having women participate might not be the most appealing thing to look at, but I think it's good that they're willing to put in the effort for a worthwhile cause, and I think it means a lot," Chen said.

Jocelyn Wright contributed to this article.

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