"Movember" at Lyndon State College

The month of November has some nicknames. "No shave November" is a popular one, which some say comes from a craze started in Australia. It started eight years ago, when a men's health foundation had the idea to get people to grow mustaches in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer and men's health. Movember is what they call it, and it's a time for "mo' brothers and mo' sisters" to grow their facial hair. In order to "educate men about the health risks they face, and to act on that knowledge, thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment," according to Movember's website (us.movember.com).

The charity has spread off the island of Australia, and onto countries all over the world. This year it hit the U.S. hard; Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Zac Efron are amongst celebrities that participated. A large group of National Hockey League players, including members of the Boston Bruins. According to the Movember website, 174 million dollars has been raised over the past eight years of the cause.

This week's list takes a look at the top 10 mustaches on Lyndon's campus. Not many mustaches were grown just for Movember. In fact the number one mustache on the list has been in the works for twenty five years.

 "Not always in this form" explains David Johnston "but for 24 or 25 years, which eventually led to this configuration.. after saying 'Let's see what this turns into'". When I led a  discussion on Facebook, David Johnston was a clear number one. The philosophy professor's mustache is thick, and has extremely impressive form. The 20+ year old stache gets comments from students all the time "and occasionally from people on the street" Johnston says. What is the secret of the stache? "a comb and blow dry to get the curve." Johnston also has a special mustache wax that he uses on special occasions.

After talking with someone who has a mustache, one will learn that it really is not an easy task. Which is why when someone has a stache, people are quick to recognize, and give credit where its due. I tried myself to grow a mustache in the month of November, and it is not easy.

Coming in second was the mustache of English professor Richard Moye. This very well-groomed, organized mustache is also admired by many. Close behind in third was our president Steve Gold! Junior Tim Pearson was the highest ranking student mustache (number 4). Pearson has the classic "handlebar" mustache (pictured below). Other votes included Tim Lewis and Mark Morhman of the television department. Graham Sheriff and several other students also made the cut. Student Demitri Papathanassiou, and sophomore on the LSC hockey team, was a fan favorite.