By Charlotte Cochrane
With Halloween in the rearview mirror, Movember is officially upon us! Bishop’s University’s men’s rugby team is participating in this month-long event which raises funds for men’s health initiatives.
The Movember website states that they’ve raised over “$1.8 billion AUD in prevention-focused work across mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer”, in the past 22 years, worldwide. Movember is the type of fundraiser that not only brings community and funds research, but also raises awareness regarding men’s health– something that is not nearly talked about enough.
Graphic courtesy of Gabrielle Lalonde
Men’s health at Bishop’s University should be something we all acknowledge and discuss more frequently, and Movember is an incredible way that the men’s rugby team is doing so. With rapidly increasing rates of loneliness in young people, men are particularly at risk and it is now more important than ever to have these types of resources and funding available (Bledsoe & Smith, 2025).
The Bishop’s Men’s Rugby Team is participating for their fourth time, annually since 2022, says Graham Dunn, a member of the BU men’s rugby Movember leadership team and third-year rugby player.
When asked why the team is continuing this tradition, he explains that the continual motivation for the team’s participation in this annual fundraiser is to raise awareness and funds for men’s mental health and cancer prevention. Dunn also stated that the men’s rugby team will be posting weekly updates on their instagram page to track progress, as well as get votes on which player is growing the best Mo.
“I want to show men that it is powerful to find support and speak up regarding their own mental health”, says third-year student and second-year rugby player, Andrew Min. By raising awareness on the many resources and support we have access to here on campus, we can destigmatize men’s mental health, and open the floor for discussion.
The Guidance Counsellors office, upstairs in the Student Union Building (the SUB), is a great place to start if seeking mental health support. Additionally, the Sexual make quorum or simply complain when their events aren’t quite what you imagined? Extracurriculars are what make your time in university special, and we lose a bit of our special Bishop’s culture when we lose clubs due to club politics and failed executive team successions.
Violence Support Centre (SVSC), is extremely helpful in supporting any students’ lived experiences, no matter what they’ve gone through or when that may have been.
Based on my observation of this team’s initiative and the wider Movember community, this is an incredible initiative which is not only raising millions upon millions of dollars to fund men’s health initiatives, but it is also bringing awareness to these topics, and setting the stage for discussion between mates, friends, fathers, uncles, brothers and broader communities.
Participating in and donating to this initiative is a great start to setting the stage for discussion and finding solutions, but I wonder, how can we bring this same thoughtfulness to our Bishop’s University Campus?
Consider donating to or spreading awareness about Movember in your circles, or at the very least, start a discussion regarding men’s mental health with your friends!
