Things get a bit hairy this time of year – and it’s not because the end of term is around the corner.
Rather, it’s because of the overwhelming number of students, staff and faculty on Dalhousie’s campuses participating in Movember.
Movember is an annual, month-long event that encourages men across the globe to put down their razors and take up the issue of men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health initiatives. The result? Dollars and awareness around these issues goes up – as does the number of moustache sightings on campus.
Currently, there are 40 Dalhousie teams registered at the Movember website, including Facilities Management, the School of Physiotherapy’s ‘Mo Money, Mo Problems’ team, Dalhousie MOceanography, the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus team and the Dal Commerce “Stiff Upper Lips,” who are currently ranked second amongst university teams in Canada, raising more than $10,000 at the time of publication.
The total amount raised by Dal teams thus far? More than $30,000.
Brad Tapson is the ringleader behind ‘Moustache Parti,’ a Movember team comprised of Dalhousie architecture students. This is no fresh-faced team – at least, not at this point in November. Moustache Parti took part in Movember last year, successfully raising more than $2,000 through coffee sales, a Pacifico night and a chili cook-off.
(FYI: ‘Parti’ is a pun, which the team admits is terrible, ‘parti’ being defined as the ‘'basic scheme or concept of an architectural design.’)
Calendar gents
This year, the members of Moustache Parti are upping their fundraising efforts and letting their moustaches live on – in print, anyway – for all 365 days of the year. The team is currently documenting their ‘mo’s (photography, layout and printing are all part and parcel of the architecture program) and Moustache Parti calendars are available for pre-sale now at a cost of $10 — perhaps the ideal stocking stuffer for the Burt Reynolds fan in your home?
Tapson is enthusiastic about the initiative.
“For me Movember is more about awkwardness," he says. "Men – especially men in my family – are notoriously bad at talking about things. Being a socially awkward man, I am acutely aware of how bad I am at talking about things, and I make a conscious effort to mitigate the problem.
“Movember is about overcoming that awkward reluctance to talk about problems, and that's why I do it. Plus, as a guy who has trouble growing much facial hair, I'll take any opportunity to do so with the solidarity of my teammates.”
If you’re interested in receiving your own Moustache Parti calendar, please email bradtapson@gmail.com. Calendars will be available for pick-up at the School of Architecture (and possibly, delivery) in mid-December.
More mo'
Want to support Movember? Find a Dal team to contribute to on the Movember website.
As well, all month long, Dalhousie's Facebook Page has been sharing just some of the moustaches on campus. Check out the photo album.