By Dylan Bigelow / Jambar Contributor
Be prepared to see more mustaches on campus this month.
November is Movember, a month-long campaign to raise awareness of men’s health issues by encouraging participants to grow mustaches. According to the campaign’s website, us.movember.com, its goal is to change the face of men’s health.
Jacob Clemente, a senior accounting major and the philanthropy chairman of Youngstown State University’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, said his fraternity will host events throughout the month to promote the campaign and raise funds.
“I wanted to make it a month-long thing, I thought it would be very beneficial,” Clemente said. “If we have an event going on for a month, then campus would be bound to see it.”
Sigma Alpha Epsilon will hold table and fundraising events from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday of November in Kilcawley Center. The fraternity will also host guest speakers and organize trivia and game nights to raise awareness and bring people together.
Event dates will be posted on flyers around campus. All proceeds will benefit Movember and its related projects.
According to its website, Movember has raised more than $1.3 billion and funded over 1,250 projects since being founded in 2003. These projects focus on three main areas, including mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
“There is that stigma where men feel like they do have to be tough, they do have to be hard, so bringing this to campus and spreading awareness is great,” Clemente said.
Casey J. Cornelius, a public speaker on healthy masculinity and personal development, is set to give two talks Nov. 17 in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley.
The first, scheduled for 5 p.m., is titled “The Extraordinary Art of Caring (When No One Else Seems To).” The second, at 6:30 p.m., is titled “Be the Man: A Movement for Healthy Masculinity.”
Another speaker, Jake Protivnak, professor and director of the counseling program at YSU is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. Nov. 18, with the location yet to be determined.
SAE is aiming to make its trivia and game nights creative and engaging with Movember themes.
“We’re thinking about doing a board of ‘Guess that Mustache’ and having a bunch of pictures of cut-out mustaches, numbering them and we’ll see who can guess the most correct for who they belong to,” Clemente said.
SAE is encouraging participation from other Greek Life organizations by donating 5% of the fundraising to a cause selected by the fraternity or sorority most involved with the campaign.
In the U.S., men die by suicide at nearly four times the rate of women, making up about 80% of all suicides, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Additionally, the American Cancer Society reports that about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men.
People in need can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Lifeline offers 24-hour confidential support for anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. For life-threatening emergencies, call 911.
