Coalition Hosts No Shave November

It’s time to see all your male peers walking the halls sporting patchy, scruffy “beards.” This month, Coalition is holding East’s second No-Shave November.

East had its first No-Shave competition in 2013, and for reasons unknown did not reprise it in 2014. However, this year Coalition sponsor David Muhammed is bringing back the beards in hopes of making this a tradition for many years to come.

The six official contestants are Mr. Cooper-Smith, Mr. White, Mr. Wagner, Mr. Laird, senior Charlie Jensen and junior Trent Burnham. Each candidate will have a jar around the school with a caricature of their face on it, courtesy of senior Hannah Scofield. Students and faculty can vote for their favorite beard by donating money to that person’s jar.

“Whoever raises the most money wins; we’re not going to, like, measure the beards,” Muhammed said. “It’s all about raising enough money.”

All the proceeds from the contest will go to Charity Water, a foundation that helps build wells in countries, mostly in Africa, which lack clean drinking water. In some of these areas, people have to walk up to four hours a day to find sanitary water. Through people at East voting for whoever has the best beard, African children will receive the help they need to get easier access to clean water they can drink.

“[Charity Water] promises that every dollar you give is going to [help build the wells],” Jensen said. “A lot of charity companies will take money and you’re not really sure what they do with it really, so you just want to make sure you’re giving to the right organizations.”

Jensen has had a beard for most of the school year and is shaving at the start of November. Then he’ll just let it grow for the rest of the month.

Muhammed encourages all male students to participate in No-Shave November, even if they aren’t official contestants.

“You should totally support it,” he said. “We need more of these young boys to become men, and man up, and go ahead and put hair on their faces. Just let it go all of November, just raw face.”

Senior Matt Lindboe is one such student. Even though Coalition didn’t hold an official No-Shave November last year, Lindboe stopped shaving when November hit. Deciding he liked his beard, he kept it until May. He then got tired of it and finally shaved it off.

“No-Shave is a great way for men to experiment and push their own boundaries, as facial hair can become such a huge part of one’s identity,” Lindboe said.
2013’s winners were Trent Burnham for students and T. Michael Chaffee for teachers. Time will tell who the 2015 champions will be, so put a few quarters in the jar of your favorite contender and feel good about where your money is going.