Pop-up Barbershop Brings Custom Cuts, Care and Culture to Campus

A pop-up barbershop at Michigan Technological College boosts scholar self-esteem
and a feeling of belonging by providing hair treatment for all textures.

It is not searching like a very good hair working day – snow pelts campus with slush blobs and sloppy
flakes, alternating with drizzle. But inside Michigan Tech’s Wood Health and fitness center, in the repurposed
place that is been transformed into a barbershop, the only precipitation is spritz from
the spray bottle expertly wielded by Manny Hernandez of The Great Lifetime Barber Lounge. The shiny lights are on so is the songs. Consumers, who booked on line in advance,
are filing as a result of the pop-up barbershop on the fifty percent-hour like clockwork, a procession
of shaggy befores and freshly styled afters. 

In current many years, Huskies who could find the money for the time and price have been traveling
98 miles to Hernandez’s store in Marquette for a barbershop working experience that can help them
seem and experience their most effective. Now Hernandez is coming to them. For him, it is a way to
offer clientele much absent from their hometown barber with a familiar practical experience vital
to their overall effectively-remaining. For Michigan Tech, it is a way to help college students experience at
home — an embodiment of the feeling of belonging the College needs for just about every Husky.

“Barbering is a culture,” claims Hernandez. “There’s new music, positivity, fantastic lighting
— a familiarity and comfortability. Which is element of my mission, to make them come to feel as
good and comfortable as possible.”

“To know that they can glance superior and sense fantastic — that grooming for self-esteem is
so important. I am glad to be a component of it.”Manny Hernandez

A haircut appears to be like a little factor right until you never have entry to a specialist who
understands how to work with your hair. Some Huskies would go from August to Thanksgiving
crack, hanging on right until they bought home to their regular barber. Other folks would get alongside one another
and cut each and every other’s hair.

“I would go to Marquette to get a minimize from Manny, or go couple of and considerably among,” says Jamie Phillips.  A college student in the doctorate of actual physical therapy software MTU provides in partnership with Central Michigan College, Phillips acquired his bachelor’s
degree in physical exercise science in 2016. “When I was an undergrad there was a person on the football team that reduce hair,”
suggests Phillips, a former Tech goalie. “I’m really glad he (Manny) is here and ideally
we’ll enhance the frequency of visits.” 

Finlandia University pupils are also welcome to indication up for appointments, says Chris Sanders, multicultural university student results coordinator and interim assistant director of the
Michigan Tech Middle for Range and Inclusion. “It’s a greater issue for the neighborhood, not just URM (underrepresented minority)
learners,” states Sanders, noting that as Michigan Tech moves ahead with its diversity
and inclusion initiatives, need for products and services and opportunities that permit all students
to truly feel and do their ideal in a arduous academic surroundings will maximize. “We want
to be prepared for that escalating community,” he provides.

A Husky-led Initiative

Aiding pupils locate hair care for all textures has been an ongoing need at Michigan
Tech. A college student-athlete’s discovery much more than a yr back catalyzed the campus barbershop
strategy.

“I went two and a half months with no a haircut when I arrived below,” claims Justin Davis.
“As a Black guy, in our tradition, haircuts, the way we glance, our fashion is seriously crucial
… When I really do not have my hair reduce, I wear a hat.”

The next-year MBA college student and broad receiver on the MTU soccer staff identified Hernandez by a pal
in Marquette and arrived at out early on to look for strategies to provide the working experience to Tech.
The thought did not materialize until eventually not long ago, when Michigan Tech Vice President of Variety and Inclusion (VPDI) Wayne Gersie went to Manny for his have haircut. “He said, ‘We truly need to have
one thing like this at Tech,’” recalls Hernandez. And so the strategy took condition.

“We had talked about it the previous couple years,” suggests Alexandra Marshall, affiliate
director of home training. “This time, the timing was just right. It transpired rapidly. Wayne had Manny’s card.
We known as that working day and begun the ball rolling.”

The pop-up barbershop is specially uplifting just after the strain Huskies have felt throughout
the pandemic, Marshall suggests. “I want each individual college student who walks in our doorways to experience
at household here.”

“Housing is all about group and earning connections. This was just one of people wins
we required — to get the job done on a task that allows us be back again to who we are.”Alexandra Marshall, MTU Home Training and Housing Expert services

Micah Johnson, a first-year student from the Iron Range of northern Minnesota majoring
in mechanical engineering technology, bought the 1st haircut of his higher education days in the pop-up barbershop. “It is a form of self-care,” he suggests, “but for me, the convenience is 50 % the reason I
did it. If he comes routinely, that performs for me!”

Sanders claims the persons doing the job on the job are committed to building it a long-lasting
University featuring. 

The barbershop initiative is supported across campus and includes grant funding for
everlasting equipment. In addition to the VPDI’s office environment and Home Education and learning and
Housing Expert services, supporters incorporate Michigan Tech Athletics, the Vice President of Pupil Affairs and Dean of College students Business, and many other MTU employees and faculty members who have place care and electrical power into
the exertion.

Both of those Hernandez and Davis say the major takeaway from the barbershop initiative transcends
student hair care — it’s displaying Huskies the great importance of producing their requirements obvious
to the people who are completely ready to listen.

“Ask and communicate what you want. You can previously inform Michigan Tech is right here for
their learners. And which is not just connected to barbering,” Hernandez says. “It’s related
to your expertise here and your time below at Tech.”

For far more data on barbershop dates and situations, look at out the MTU Center For Range and Inclusion’s web page and social media.

Michigan Technological University is a general public study university launched in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is property to a lot more than 7,000 pupils from 55 nations around the world around the world. Constantly rated amongst the best universities in the nation for return on investment decision, the College provides much more than 125 undergraduate and graduate diploma plans in science and technological know-how, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, overall health professions, humanities, arithmetic, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is located just miles from Lake Top-quality in Michigan’s Higher Peninsula, supplying year-round chances for outside journey.