Movember Stache Bracket Recap

Phi Kappa Theta held its annual Movember Stache Bracket in November to spread awareness of men's health. Over the years, members have participated in Movember to support their mission of helping men live happier, healthier, longer lives. They strive to tackle mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Movember has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world.

Our successful campaign took place on Instagram and created a platform for Phi Kap brothers to support each other through voting for the bro with the best stache.

Six total entries were selected for participation in the bracket. Our followers voted 63 times for the brother with the best stache. The three brothers below received the highest number of votes from our followers.

2022 Movember Stache Bracket winners: 

·      1st Place: John Schroll (University of Nebraska - Lincoln, '24) 

·      2nd Place: Kyran Peters (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, '24) 

·      3rd Place: Travis Barnhardt (University of Wisconsin - Madison, '23) 

First Place
John Schroll
(University of Nebraska-Lincoln, ‘24)

Second Place
Kyran Peters
(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, '24)

Third Place
Travis Barnhardt
(University of Wisconsin - Madison, '23) 

When asked what Movember participation meant to him, John Schroll said he was “Happy to be able to participate and help bring attention to the importance of men's health.” 

Kyran Peters also says, “Participating in Movember means spreading awareness for prostate cancer research and men's mental health.” 

We are proud to highlight some of our chapters that also participated in Movember with their own campaigns to help spread awareness and raise donations. Scroll through the images below to see how our chapters supported Movember in 2022.

Phi Kappa Theta is committed to the idea that we directly impact the communities around us and take pride in participating annually in the Movember campaign. If you wish to participate this year, be on the lookout for our Stache Bracket announcement on Instagram in November!

Addressing Mental Health in Your Chapter

by Dan Bureau, PhD
University of New Hampshire, ‘95
Board of Trustees
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Memphis

You call him brother.

You call him friend.

You look out for him when it comes to lots of things, but do you look out for his well-being? In particular, do you look out for his mental health?

It can be tricky to identify if someone you care about in the fraternity is experiencing a mental health problem. Particularly for men, there is so much pressure to appear to have it calm and together. Pressure to come across like things do not bother you. The reality is that very few people can manage this pressure well. As the pressure becomes too much, it may be an indicator that your brother has a problem with his mental health.

Now, feeling stressed is a natural thing. Stress is the body’s response to managing all that is going on and sometimes when too much is going on, you are going to feel tense, stressed, upset. So, having some stress is not a problem and could potentially be good for you.

But when stress does overwhelm someone and it goes unchecked, there is potential for a number of mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, thinking problems, personality changes, problem behaviors (think overuse of alcohol or demonstrating a lack of concern or civility to others), and even suicide ideation. Student debt can also play a factor. The reality is that even with the very minimal differences in actual mental illness between men and women, men are far less inclined to seek help. This results in a number of issues for us in Phi Kappa Theta.

You call him brother.

You call him friend.

You look out for him when it comes to lots of things, but do you look out for his well-being?

In particular, do you look out for his mental health? If you don’t look out for his mental health, there’s a good chance you’ll miss an opportunity to be the best brother you can be.

Your obligation is to find the resources on your campus that can help. This may be having the Counseling Center conduct a stress management workshop for the chapter. It could be walking your brother over to the Counseling Center. Whatever it is, find out on your campus who you can turn to in order to address mental health in your chapter.

Phi Kappa Theta is launching a partnership with the JED Foundation. A number of other fraternities including Alpha Chi Rho, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Upsilon, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Chi have announced national partnerships with the JED Foundation. The JED Foundation’s website provides a number of resources that can be helpful in learning about mental health and mental illness. Check them out today! Look for a launch of the partnership between Phi Kappa Theta and the JED Foundation launched sometime by the end of this year. In the meantime, “seek him with hours to kill and reach out to him with hours to live”, can guide you. A meaningful statement within the ritual and an explanation for why looking out for your brother is so important to his well-being and yours.

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About Dan:

Dan Bureau joined Phi Kappa Theta at the University of New Hampshire, and graduated in 1995. He later earned a PhD. in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University. Dan works for the University of Memphis as the assistant vice president for student affairs. He also volunteers for the Council for the Advancement of Standards through the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. Dan enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis and staying fit.