Christopher Cooley was told countless times to shave off his mustache last month. He said a barber even told him it looked terrible, and he needed to get rid of it. Although the second-year medical student was tempted to shave it off at times, he kept his mustache through November because it was a symbol of his commitment to spreading awareness about men’s health.
Cooley, along with 17 other medical students from the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, grew mustaches through the month of November as part of a Movember fundraiser. Movember is an organization that works to raise funds for charities that promote men’s health, including the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.
Medical students from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan competed against the MSU Movember team to see which medical school could raise the most money. MSU medical students raised more than $2,500, and U-M collected the largest amount in donations — about $9,000. The three universities raised more than $15,000 combined.
Cooley said he brought the competition to MSU for the first time after his cousin Andrew Vollman, a medical student at Wayne State, participated in the movement in previous years. Cooley and Vollman said they recruited a friend from U-M Medical School to spark the competition as well.
Cooley said he thought the competition would motivate the three Movember groups to collect more money and encourage people to participate in the movement.
“We’re all going to be future physicians, so it is important that we raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer and other male health issues,” Cooley said.
When Vollman brought the movement to Wayne State three years ago, he never imagined it would become so popular among college students, Vollman said.
He said during his first year, less than 10 people participated at Wayne State. This year, more than 40 medical students joined in and pitched their razors for the month.
“It is so rewarding that something I have brought to (Wayne State) has doubled each year,” Vollman said. “I’ve noticed … across the nation and across the state it is picking up a lot of steam as well.”
MSU second-year medical student David Leslie also a participant in the movement, posted pictures of his mustache on us.movember.com and sent the link out to his friends via Facebook and Twitter so they could donate to the cause online.
He said he tried to keep his mustache looking professional because it was the first time he had ever tried to grow one, and he enjoyed participating in the competition, although his girlfriend didn’t talk to him for a few days when he refused to shave.
“We had really good support from all of our friends and a lot of our classmates,” Leslie said. “I didn’t think as many people would donate; I was very surprised.”
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