Every Nov. 1, the seasonal Halloween decorations are taken down and replaced by cornucopias, decorative leaves, and beards. Yes, beards.
To some, Nov. 1 means the start of a month without shaving. Known to many as No Shave November, men refrain from shaving for an entire month in order to raise awareness and funds for men’s cancers.
Several language teachers formed a team for “No Shave November” this year. Franck Greaux, Joshua Sollie, and Gary Schubert are just a few members of that team. Greaux assembled the team and most of the men threw away their razors on the first of November, however Greaux began earlier in October.
Greaux has a personal reason for doing No Shave November. Prior to this project, Greaux had melanoma, a dangerous type of skin cancer. He explained, “When you hear about something that is affecting another person’s life, you may feel empathy, but it really drives it home when you are the person affected by this.”
Greaux said, “We like to think of ourselves as impervious to things such as cancer, and so very often we wait until the very last minute. In the case of cancer, it’s very often too late.”
Schubert believes men’s cancer awareness should be similar to breast cancer awareness, possibly with encouraging people to wear blue instead of pink. He thinks that this could raise awareness of men’s cancers along with No Shave November.
All three teachers said that they normally do not have facial hair, so they were frequently asked why they had a beard. According to Greaux, this, in turn, educated people about the fact that a lot of men are going to fight cancer sometime in their lives.
When Sollie was asked by advisees and students why he decided to participate, he said, “It seemed like a great way to raise awareness of the issue rather than just donate money. It’s more of a visible sign that you support the people who suffer from cancer.”
Sollie was also encouraged by Greaux’s enthusiasm for the project and decided to try to make it the whole month without shaving. Schubert has only ever gone a few weeks without shaving. “Unfortunately if I go a long time without shaving, it’s not very attractive. Not like Mr. Greaux,” Schubert said.
Dan Linger, a senior in Greaux’s advisory, had not shaved in about a month and a half. A few other advisees of Greaux also joined in the beginning of November, according to senior Joe Faught.
Faught wanted to participate in the project because he was unable to do it when he attended Loyola Academy, where students are required to be clean shaven every day. He said, “[This is] a fun thing to do, and if it helps cancer, it’s just that much better.”
Schubert said, “There is just something about the solidarity of a male project to support the uniqueness of male cancer. I guess there’s a lot about ‘the pink’ breast cancer and stuff like that. This just appealed to me. This is a way to participate for the men’s side of cancer.”
Although men consider themselves tough and indestructible, the hard truth is that they are still vulnerable to cancer. Greaux explained that about 50% of men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
Women speak more freely about their health, but men’s cancers still need the same amount of attention that is given to women’s cancers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states that the three most common types of cancer among men are prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. These are also in the list of the top three causes of cancer death in men.
According to the “No Shave November” website, by growing out their beards and spreading awareness of men’s cancers, these teachers and thousands of other participants will spread the word and help raise funds that go towards “preventing the disease, saving lives, funding research, education, and aiding those fighting the battle.”