Mustache November
"A man without a mustache is a man without a soul."
We live in a soul-less time, Confucius would add...except during November! For at Swarthmore, November is a month when our souls slowly start to emerge thanks to that old, cherished tradition that is Mustache November. How old it is and how it actually got started is still a topic of wide debate and study, but what is certain is that its popularity and its adherents are growing every year!
Eric Verhasselt '13
Rochelle Park, New Jersey
The tradition is self-explanatory. Starting on November 1st, students and faculty (mostly men, but women are also welcome to participate - and some do!) stop shaving the facial hair above their lips. Once marked only by an informal start, the tradition is now kicked off by a study break where the brave men with their shyly emerging mustaches meet the peers who will accompany them in their voyage through the mustachioed month.
The mustachioed seal their unity with a collective shave-off at the very end of the month - on November 30th at 11:59 p.m. - when they meet again to give way to a smooth, clean shaven face. The collective shave-off takes place on Parrish lawn. Whatever the style or density, the brave soldiers of the mustache bid good-bye to their endeared facial hair - and their souls - until the next year!
