Starting on Nov. 1, men across the world will be letting the stubble above their upper lip grow out into something else. Movember is “the hairiest month of the year” according to the campaign’s site. All throughout November, men pledge not to shave their mustaches, often raising money to do so, for men's health causes. The foundation attached to the campaign has raised over 650 million USD to benefit research on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, physical activity and men’s mental health.

At NYU Abu Dhabi, support for men’s mental health has appeared in Movember efforts that, over time, have smoothed out into a tradition. Since the university's second year, male students have come together in teams to grow out their facial hair while raising both money and awareness for these causes.

“During my freshman year, Jordan Schulze, a member of the class of 2014, told me about Movember and I decided to give moustaches a chance and not make a complete pariah out of my shaving kit," wrote Bobby Haynes, class of 2015 to The Gazelle.

"I did it every year, although eventually it became shaving off my beard and leaving the ‘stache instead of growing a new one, and then last year I headed the team along with Jamie Sutherland [class of 2015]. I figured I might as well take the lead again this year; there was never a stipulation about being a current student."

Both Haynes and James Gardner, a junior currently in New York, said that they'd like to see the NYUAD momentum for Movember grow in the coming years. They also hope that the cause spreads throughout the university's global network, as men’s causes are global in nature.

“Movember is a global movement; men’s health isn’t something that is region-specific and I think that it is far too often, across a range of cultures, forgotten or marginalized,” wrote Gardner.

“It’d be great to have some folks in Shanghai do it too,” added Haynes.

Movember can also be an important symbolic step towards important dialogue concerning men’s health.

“Growing a moustache is not, in itself, a charitable act. Rather, it’s symbolic; it starts the conversation  — usually, with questions like 'Hey why didn’t you shave last night?' or 'Whoa what happened you suddenly have the face of a creepy ten year old' — about men’s health issues and raising money for research,” said Haynes.

“As a participant, you show that it is manly to front up to these health problems and that associating with these issues is manly,” added Gardner.

Another initiative on campus concerned with confronting manly issues is Manology, a group which meets to discuss issues surrounding men and their perceptions and roles in societies.

“Anyone who identifies as male is welcome to come, and we may even have a few sessions in the future that are open for female-identifying students as well,” shared senior Louis Plottel, who formed the group with senior Luis Morales-Navarro. They stressed, however, that they are merely facilitators for a collaborative effort which allows for open communication.

“We felt that there was no space on campus and also it wasn’t very normal on campus … for men to talk about gender and for men to have a space to talk about what it means to be a man,” said Plottel. “We also felt that it was a very important conversation that could lead people to have a much better understanding of their own identity, of the collective identity, of how we could make this a better place.”

Men’s health is one issue in particular which Manology plans to grapple with during the semester, which has already seen two Manology meetings so far.

“I think that men’s mental health is something that’s not discussed very often, and the unique way in which men deal with mental health," said Plottel.

"I don’t think this is our explicit goal, but I would hope that if people feel that they have a space to talk about these things then they would also feel that they have a way of getting out any negative energy or talking about their mental health or feeling that they’re more supported."