By Winston Jiang
What is No-Shave November? Many in the South community have heard the term used briefly, but few participate or are aware of what it entails.
In November 2003, the modern No-Shave November (also known as “Movember” or “Noshember”) was organized by a small group in Australia with the aim of spreading men’s health awareness, specifically for prostate cancer.
Quickly becoming more widespread, the Movember organization in 2013 has evolved to 4 million globally registered participants, $433,649,258 raised since 2003 and 581 men’s health projects funded.
At South, several students and faculty members have taken part in this month-long event, including science department head Gerard Gagnon.
Gagnon started his beard back in October as a costume to accompany his son, a big Red Sox fan, for Halloween.
But aware of and planning to participate in the No-Shave November event, he decided to sustain his beard throughout the following month. Gagnon says he has gotten very few questions about his beard, though many people have noticed it.
“Some people asked when I first started to grow it out, whether it was about the Red Sox, and I told them about the story about my nine year old,” Gagnon said. “I feel it was a bit of a missed opportunity on my part that I should have shaved on Nov. 1 and kept it growing after that.”
Previously at Needham High School, where he used to work, Gagnon also participated in an event similar to No-Shave November in which men did not shave also to promote cancer awareness during February each year.
While some information regarding participation is available on various social media platforms, to further increase awareness for this event, Gagnon said that more details and fundraising materials ahead of time would be effective.
“I’ve seen a little bit about [No-Shave November] on Facebook and social media. I think that greater awareness social media-wise would be nice, I think that if there were fundraising materials, like a pledge sheet that went out ahead of time, that that might be a little bit more effective,” Gagnon said. “I think that extra piece of fundraising would make it that much more effective.”
Though he’s happy to have done his part in raising awareness, Gagnon also said he’s glad the month is over.
“I’m excited to shave [the beard] off this weekend,” he said.
For more information about No-Shave November, visit the event’s website here.
