UCLA alumnus Brian Frederick stared at his reflection on his phone’s screen as he stood in the James West Alumni Center.
His graying brown hair was 13 inches shorter than when he walked into the conference-room-turned-hair-salon.
This was his first haircut in four years.
Frederick was one of about 200 alumni, students and others who donated at least 10 inches of hair during the Alumni Scholars Club’s sixth annual Locks of Love event. Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that makes custom wigs for children afflicted with medical-related hair loss.
This year’s event was the largest in its six years at UCLA, said Marirose Manuel, the internal campus volunteer director at the Alumni Scholars Club.
The annual shedding at UCLA’s Locks of Love drive has been the biggest of its kind at a university in the nation for the past two years, Manuel said.
Between 60 and 70 stylists were on hand from nearby Vidal Sassoon Academy and, a newcomer this year, the Aveda Institute to give free haircuts to the donors during the day-long event.
For the stylists, many of whom were students at the salons, the event is a way to get valuable experience while also giving back for a good cause, said Neeraj Wadha, one of the student stylists.
Aveda stylist Lauren Landry, however, has a personal connection to Locks of Love.
She lost two grandparents to cancer, she said as she waited for her first donor.
Frederick, one of the oldest and few men to donate on Thursday, initially planned to donate part of his hair two years ago, but was caught off guard by the change in the minimum length requirement -– from seven to 10 inches – and had to keep growing his hair out, he said. Frederick said he wanted to donate his hair for his mother, who is currently battling cancer.
The 48-year-old said he was surprised by how gray his hair had turned during the past four years he spent growing it out.
“I was afraid they might not even take graying hair,” Frederick said, laughing.
Some donors had other reasons for participating.
Cynthia Ochoa, a first-year international development studies student said she felt “a sort of excited apprehension” as she waited for her haircut.
Ochoa said she has had long hair since the fourth grade, and the idea of donating 10 inches was scary to her initially.
But she said the cause was worth the drastic change.
“It makes it easier knowing it will do some good rather than being thrown away,” she said.
Second-year psychobiology student Jaclyn Valdez donated her hair for a more personal reason – one of her friends passed away from cancer four years ago today, she said.
Valdez donated once before, in sixth grade. She could not make it to the event last year, but decided to go this year.
By the end of the day, over 190 people had donated their hair, bringing the total number of inches to 2,350, said Addison Yang, director of marketing for the Alumni Scholars Club.
Before heading to a refreshment table in the makeshift salon’s waiting area, Frederick reflected on his four-year hair-growing endeavor.
“I don’t know if I can grow it that long again,” he said, laughing.
Email Hurley at churley@media.ucla.edu