Ryan Mauldin/Collegian
Seniors Dean Simmer and Dave Frank sport masculine mustaches in support of facial hair week.
An army of militiamen are parading around campus this week with their annual tribute to the mustache. The Mustache Militia, as the Facebook group calls themselves, began this tradition as a way to beat the mid-semester blues, quit shaving for awhile and honor the mustache wearers that have gone before them.
The idea of making this an annual, weeklong event was created by seniors Dave Frank and Dan Douglass through inspiration bestowed upon them by Daniel Sundahl, professor of English.
“He has a certain air about him,” Douglass said. “Dr. Sundahl is an intriguing figure who knows how to work the mustache.”
The mustache militia finds past fashion fads and faux pas important to current society and revere the mustache as a timeless “joining of the male spirit” according to Frank.
“We believe that fashions from the past are still important, they tell us who we were and why we’re the way we are today,” fellow militiaman Daniel Greene said. “I believe that the loss of the mustache in mainstream American fashion is symbolic of the loss of our collective values as a society. I reject the intellectually lazy, clichéd comic references to ‘dated’ fashion, the stuff we’re wearing today in some ways will look equally ridiculous but the mustache withstands the test of time.”
Though the Mustache Militia holds the mustache in high esteem some members still think of it as “creepy.”
“Frankly, it is kind of disgusting because mustaches can be of disgusting,” Frank said.
This is one of the reasons why Frank sees mustache grow week as having some added benefits.
“I consider us extremely attractive men and since we are really attractive the mustache will help us concentrate on our studies because it will waive young women from pursuing us while we have them,” Frank said.
This group of men sees themselves as free spirits and thinkers.
“Mustache haters don’t just hate us for our mustaches, they hate us for our freedom,” Greene said.
The Mustache Militia see it as their personal duty to educate others on the beautiful/grotesque facets of the mustache and to spend a week saving part of their face from the torture of the razor.
“We are just a group of guys who want to portray the betterment of facial hair and all its likenesses,” Douglass said.