[media-credit id=7 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Many people look forward to November because it means snow season is beginning and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Some Weber State University students, though, celebrate it for a different reason.

“A bunch of us just decided to grow our beards out for No-Shave November,” Behling said. “I’ll probably keep growing until the end of finals week, since I’m already this far. I’ve done it every year since I could grow a beard, anyway. It’s a guy thing.”

Students may notice more mustaches and scruffy chins on some of the male population at WSU in the month of November. It begins a month break from shaving known as “No-Shave November.”

“My sister’s boyfriend, he does No-Shave November, and a lot of my friends on Facebook participate as well,” said Jordan Thomas, a WSU accounting major. “I normally would, but I have to go interview somebody, and I want to look more professional instead of being scruffy.”

No-Shave November began as “Movember,” “mo” playing on the slang term for mustache. Mustache November gained momentum as a popular fad in Australia in 1999. Individual participants are deemed “mo-bros” or “mo-sistas.” Parties are held at the end of the month to show off mustaches and to help raise funds for the foundation.

In 2004, the Movember Foundation, a charity organization, began the tradition of men growing mustaches for men’s health awareness. The foundation is still active and raises funds for men’s health problems such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and depression. Today, they are teamed up with The Prostate Foundation and Livestrong Foundation.

By 2007, the trend became global, and countries like the United States, South Africa, Spain, Denmark and many more were celebrating Movember. Since then, the trend has evolved into more of a male-bonding tradition in the United States.

“I knew a lot of people that participated in No-Shave November, but I didn’t know the story behind it,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know there was an actual cause behind it. As far as I know, it’s more of a group thing. I haven’t known anyone to participate for prostate cancer.”

Instead of just growing mustaches, some men compete to see who can grow the fullest beard or simply make it through the whole month without shaving.

“We just do it for fun,” said Mike Behling, WSU psychology major. “We make it a competition to see who can actually do it because some guys cave after a few weeks. I’m way past the itchy part right now, but sleeping on it gets annoying. You have to maintain it a little bit and wash it.”

Women can participate as well by not shaving their legs or underarms if they choose. Some women said they prefer to opt out of No-Shave November because they don’t care for it at all.

“Well, mostly I just don’t like scruffy guys,” said Camille Tanner, a WSU electronic media major. “I guess it depends a lot on the guy. Wil Wheaton can rock the beard, but a lot of them can’t. For a lot of men, I think it’s just an excuse to be lazy and not upkeep their appearance.”

Donation and other information on Movember can be found at movember.com.