Days before the return of Penn State Thon, dozens show support by shaving their heads
Dozens of students lined up on Tuesday to shave their heads in support of the children who have experienced hair loss due to their cancer journey — and to signal that after last year’s virtual event, Penn State Thon is back.
The annual event, “No Hair, Don’t Care,” supports the philanthropy’s yearlong fundraising efforts to fight childhood cancer. Participants paid $10 to get their hair cut, with half going to a Thon organization of their choosing.
With three hairdressers yielding electric razors and an old-school barbershop theme at the HUB-Robeson Center, the event illustrated Thon’s return to normalcy after being virtual last year.
Whether participants showed up with an entire group from their organization or alone during a break from classes, they all shared the same eagerness and enthusiasm to get their buzz cuts — a Thon tradition that many missed out on last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some participants left the barber chair with not only a fresh new haircut (and a custom headband if they were one of the first 140 to get buzzed) but also with a heightened level of excitement as they prepare for the dance marathon this weekend.
“It really just kicked in that it’s three days away and this definitely got me even more excited than I already was,” Ryan Kovacs, executive director of EMS Thon, said.
Kovacs has been involved with Thon since his freshman year and was inspired to get his hair buzzed off two years ago after he watched one of his organization’s former dancers do it in support of their Four Diamonds families.
Now as a senior, Kovacs will be dancing at Thon, standing for 46 hours straight in solidarity with hundreds of other student dancers. He hopes showing up on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center with a shaved head will be a reminder to the children there that the event is for them.
“I just want them to feel like they are not alone, like we are there with them, supporting them and we have their back through all of this,” Kovacs said.
Like Kovacs, Branden Ricketts, who will be participating in Thon as part of a dancer relations committee, hopes his shaved head will provide a sense of comfort for the kids who attend the event.
“I want the kids on the floor to feel comfortable and I hope when they see me have the same hair as them, they realize that it’s not a bad thing,” Ricketts said.
Ricketts said he’s never cut his hair short before but was looking forward to the change — emphasizing that any underclassmen who participate in Thon should consider doing the same because it’s “a change they will be proud of.”
Ana Sparages, a hair donation captain, said the purpose of the event was to bring awareness to how cancer treatment causes hair loss and how much of an impact that has on children going through treatment.
“Hair is a huge part of a lot of people’s identities and having students shave their heads in remembrance of those that have lost their hair due to cancer is so special to see,” Sparages, special events committee member, said.
While this event didn’t offer the opportunity to donate hair, Sparages said there were two events prior that allowed participants to get haircuts that donate to Wigs for Kids, an organization that provides hairpieces to children who have lost their hair due to medical treatment. She said one of the rewarding parts of her position is seeing the reactions of children trying on their wigs for the first time — adding that it “brings so much confidence back and makes their cancer journey a little bit easier.”
