At the start of November, all the members of Delta Upsilon had clean shaves. By the end, they had full-grown mustaches and over $1,200 raised for Movember, a men’s health organization.
On Oct. 30, the brothers revealed clean-shaven faces at their chapter meeting. The challenge thereafter was simple: grow the best mustache you can within a month. And raise as much money for men’s health awareness as you can.
“It raises awareness, just because we’re all walking around with mustaches on our faces,” president of Delta Upsilon Anthony Abenante ‘25 said. “People ask questions.”
The members of Delta Upsilon have been letting their facial hair grow for Movember since 2017 after former brother Joey Towers ‘18 died by suicide.
Since then, men’s health has been at the forefront of their philanthropy.
“Everyone knows you’re trying to grow facial hair for the month,” Jake Leddy ‘24, a member of Delta Upsilon and the former philanthropy chair, said. “But not a lot of people actually know that it’s for men’s cancer awareness and men’s mental health awareness.”
Throughout the month, the chapter has held events to fundraise and raise awareness of these issues.
Delta Upsilon held a bake sale with Kappa Kappa Gamma in the middle of November where all proceeds went towards Movember. On Tuesday, the brothers collaborated with Peer Anti-Violence Educators to host a television screening event discussing toxic masculinity.
“Men are always supposed to be strong, not supposed to cry, that kind of stuff,” Leddy said. “A lot of people just kind of ignore the whole idea of men’s mental health.”
According to Abenante, about 75 percent of members participated in the tradition. However, not all of them were destined for the ‘stache.
“For a good portion of us we don’t really grow facial hair, so we’re just kind of giving this thing a try and we look a little bit ugly doing it,” Abenante said.
Abenante praised the facial hair of Leddy as one of the best in the chapter.
“He showed up to our chapter meeting, like November tenth or something, with already a pretty solid one, which is impressive,” Abenante said.
“I think I had the best before I had to shave it,” Leddy agreed of his own, who shaved his hard-earned facial hair over Thanksgiving break per his family’s request.
While Movember is based on growing mustaches, the chapter does not discriminate. From a full-grown mustache to some peach fuzz or even a beard, all forms of facial hair contribute to the fraternity’s mission.
“A lot of guys have kind of grown out the whole thing, like with the beard and all that,” Abenante said. “Declan Wahlers has a really good one [and] Colin Kissell.”
“We’re not shaving for the entire month, which works for some guys and not for others,” Abenante continued. “But it’s a really cool way to bond over something … we’re all in this together for a good cause.”
Delta Upsilon will continue to honor Towers sans mustaches in April with its annual bike-a-thon, coined “Joey Day.”
