Beards have long been a tradition in academia. As English teachers I think it is important to embrace our affection towards dorky sweaters and interesting man manes.
Take this guy for example. I have no idea who he us, but he has a nice little goat beard and he clearly owns a lot of books. Put those two things together: you have a bearded academic.
While at the University Archives with my English 1000 students, one of them came across an article from the Western Herald that explained a beard growing contest that took place during the Homecoming season in the glorious year 1954. According to the Herald, "all men who could grow chin whiskers were invited to participate in a beard growing contest."
Our beard off is the first of such contests in quite a while that I have heard of at WMU. Perhaps, we are bringing back the trend of chin whiskers. Or even more perhaps, we are bringing back the spirit of camaraderie that inevitably comes with a beard growing contest.
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