By Andrew Thompson ‘19


Men grow facial hair. It is man’s most physical display of wisdom and masculinity.

What do Abraham Lincoln, Sophocles and Santa Clause all have in common? That’s right! They all had awesome beards.

Even the man who lives in our hearts forever, Jesus, had a beard.

So why must the men of Edmund Ignatius Rice come to school with clean shaven faces every day?

Potentially awesome beard growing senior Anthony Arquilla said, “Having to shave for school is an unnecessary hassle. I will be up until 1:00 a.m. working on a grueling assignment and be relieved to finally go to sleep, until I realize that I need to shave. It is just an unnecessary task for students who have much more on their minds than such menial grooming.”

In the creation story, God created teenage boys and he said, “Let them grow facial hair while still attending school.” I think that’s how it goes.

Boys aspire to be the men they look up to. Mr. Alberts, the man that leads Brother Rice, has quite the beard. Beards can create a sense of confidence in the working man, and have a positive affect when it comes to feeling confident in front of the mirror.

Mr. Alberts said, “Well, I think I look good no matter what I have on my face, but I think I look better with a beard, and I know my wife thinks I look better with a beard.”

Can a beard be distracting for people at work? Absolutely not! Mr. Alberts said, “I don’t think it affects me one bit.”

If Jesus had a beard, and we ask ourselves what would Jesus do? Wouldn’t he grow a beard?

An anonymous teacher said, “If they want to grow beards like Jesus, they have to learn to walk on water.”

Even though our Lord and Savior had a beard, I don’t expect to see much facial hair displayed in the hallways.