When it comes to growing moustaches, Dalhousie鈥檚 students, staff and faculty are no slackers.
So far this year, 25 pilipili漫画 teams representing over 400 individuals have contributed to raising over $65,000 for men鈥檚 health as part of the national Movember campaign.
A huge part of that pilipili漫画 is the Rowe Mo Bros and Sistas. Last year, the team raised $33,620, making them the . Their efforts helped Dal finish as the top Movember fundraising university, per-capita, and as a result .
This year鈥檚 Rowe Mo Bros and Sistas have already surpassed that total and then some: as of this publication, they鈥檙e crossed the $45,000 mark. Not only are they the top-ranked university Movember team in Canada at the moment, but they鈥檝e raised more than double the amount of their nearest competitor.
Most incredibly, the team is ranked fifth among all Movember teams in Canada 鈥� ahead of banks, NHL teams and energy companies.
鈥淓fforts so far have been really great by all parties involved,鈥� says Rowe Mo Bros and Sistas co-captain and Dalhousie鈥檚 Movember campus rep Jeremy Austin-Evelyn. 鈥淭his year we鈥檝e tried to be a little bit more strategic in our efforts as far as Mo Bros and Mo Sistas are concerned.鈥�
Encouraging participation
Movember aims to create awareness and raise funds for men鈥檚 health, having participants sport their best 鈥榮tache. The campaign has become incredibly popular at universities across Canada over the past decade, with students doing their part to address the stigmas against discussing men鈥檚 health issues while generating awareness and understanding of men鈥檚 health in general.
Jeremy explains that the face-follically challenged 鈥淢o Sistas鈥� are often overlooked when people think about Movember, but they鈥檙e an important part of the Rowe team. 鈥淎t the heart of it, everyone should have their own reasons [for taking part],鈥� he says 鈥� and moustache or not, anyone can register with a Movember team and help raise money.
Rowe Bros and Sistas members. Top row, left to right: Connor Ross, Jeremy Austin-Evelyn (Co-Captain), Duane Davis (Co-Captain); bottom row, left to right: Sam Pajot-Phipps, Sam(antha) Day (Co-Captain), James Lewis.
Another goal for the team this year was to get 鈥溾�榮tache squatters鈥� off the sidelines and into the fundraising game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a running joke in the Movember circle that anyone who is growing a mo, but isn鈥檛 registered, doesn鈥檛 have a legitimate moustache,鈥� explains Jeremy. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e kind of doing it just for show.鈥� He says this year, there has been a big effort to get these illegitimate moustaches registered.
鈥淧eople should get involved by registering for a team or by themselves,鈥� he says. And if they鈥檙e struggling to raise funds, 鈥渆mailing friends and family helps a lot,鈥� he advises.
Even without a mo鈥�, individuals can participate and raise money just by going out to events. Teams across Dalhousie and beyond have an updated list of end-of-month celebrations on the Movember website.
Campus-wide support
Though the Rowe Mo Bros and Sistas are Dal鈥檚 top fundraising team, there are lots of other groups contributing to the cause. Teams that have raised more than $2,000 to-date include Varsity Athletics, Engineering, Facilities Management and the Schulich School of Law. Almost every Faculty is represented by a team registered on the Movember website, as are many of Dal鈥檚 residences.
Some teams have turned to well-known moustachioed figures in their faculty. 鈥淲e have an agreement with Dr. Julio Militzer,鈥� says Michael Forsyth, co-captain of the Engineering team. 鈥淗e鈥檚 had a moustache forever; even his children have never seen him shaven. So he agreed that once we reached the $1,000 goal, he鈥檒l get on stage at the end of the month and get shaved.鈥�
Mission accomplished: Dr. Militzer [left, in 1972 and present day] will have his moustache shaved at a special celebration at in the T-Room this Friday night at 6 p.m. He'll be joined in the shaving by another prof, David Hansen, with the $5 cover charge going towards the Movember Foundation.
Michael says, for him, the goal of Movember is to, 鈥渟pread the news and awareness of the issues effecting men and their health. And just creating conversation and awareness.鈥�
Want to support a Dal Movember team? .