“You really want me to shave your whole head?” the hair stylist asked me.
“I guess,” I said with some hesitation, looking at my reflection and imagining what I would look like bald.
I had sat down for a “solidarity shave” at Thursday’s “Locks of Love” donation event, hosted by the Alumni Scholars Club for the first time at the James West Alumni Center.
Over 210 students, faculty and alumni turned out and donated 2,210 inches of hair, enough to produce 44 wigs for disadvantaged children with long-term hair loss due to illness.
Though my hair was not long enough to go toward a wig, I decided to cut it as a symbolic gesture to show my support for a worthy cause.
“These donations are special because it’s giving something of ourselves,” said Jenn Hyman, campus volunteers director of the Alumni Scholars Club and chairwoman of the event.
“Writing a check is one thing, but when you give your hair, you will feel the effects of the donation for months to come,” she said.
High-quality human hair wigs often cost between $3,500 and $6,000 in stores, making them hard for families often plagued with medical bills to afford.
“It is very visible that these children have gone through this disease, and these wigs help them feel normal again. Every day, when they look in the mirror, they don’t have to be reminded of an illness they went through,” Hyman said.
Causes of hair loss include alopecia, an auto-immune disorder that causes the hair follicles to shut down, as well as cancer, genetic disorders and dermatological conditions, according to the organization.
As I waited for a chair to open up, I enjoyed talking with some of the over 50 stylists from the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica who volunteered to cut hair. I was surprised that some had returned early from their two-week annual vacations to lend their time.
Above the music, the room buzzed from the sound of hair dryers and conversations. It was great watching people’s expressions as they sat down in the chair and pulled out folded-up pieces of paper with printed out short hairstyles to be modeled after.
“There was a lot of energy in the room. … Some people came in planning to donate five inches but ended up donating 10 after sitting down in the chair,” Hyman said.
Third-year linguistics student Alex Wicklas had not cut his hair since the summer after his senior year of high school and decided to donate 19 inches, one of the largest donations of the day.
“I decided to do it because I felt like there should be some reason for me to grow it out for so long,” Wicklas said. He added that it will take him a while to get used to having short hair again.
“Once I get over the postpartum depression, I’ll like the haircut,” he said jokingly.
Given the popularity of the event, Hyman said she hopes it can become a charitable tradition at UCLA that will someday be as large as others such as Dance Marathon.
“We had 42 walk-ins on the day of; we had about 40 other people we could not accommodate. … It gives us a lot of room for expansion for next year,” she said.
As it was finally time for me to get my hair cut, I watched as the stylist pulled a metal shaver from out of a plastic storage container beneath the table.
But as she searched for a place to plug it in, she suddenly put it down and picked up a pair of scissors instead and began cutting.
“I’m going to do something different,” the stylist said.
Was this going to be worse? I wondered.
But by the time she was done, I realized she had cut the hair on my head to a length ranging from half an inch to an inch.
“You just wouldn’t look good with a completely shaved head,” she explained at the end. So my symbol of support fell flat, and I ended up just walking away with a free haircut.
But in the end, I realized it was silly of me to think it was necessary to shave my head to make a statement. Because, considering none of it could be donated anyway, it didn’t matter how much I had left on my head ““ what mattered was the significance behind the action.
It feels great to be part of a good cause by giving a part of one’s self ““ whether it be hair, blood, bone marrow or other parts.
In a few months the thick brown hair on my head will have fully returned. But regardless how short I cut it and the time it takes to grow back, I would never be able to know what it’s like to have long-term hair loss.
But if I wait to get a haircut until next year, it just might be long enough to donate and make a difference with the hair.
Hair or monetary donations can be made to Locks of Love by calling (561) 963-1677. E-mail Noble at bnoble@media.ucla.edu.