Cut Of Faith: Amateur Hair Stylists At Penn

Nobody knows how to reinvent themselves quite like new college students. Whether it’s your closet, interests, or personality, everyone loves a fresh start––and a fresh look. Which brings us to the question: Is that why 2029 is so obsessed with cutting hair right now?

*Nicole Lui, CAS ‘29, having her hair cut by Serena Lin, CAS ‘29.*

I ask this from atop a Hill bathroom counter, not that you can see much of it right now. In fact, the entire bathroom has been transformed. A L’Oréal dye box’s contents are scattered across the marble, lying probably a bit too close to the pieces of cake that a neighbor brought. There are four different combs from three different people, two rolls of paper towels, and one pair of scissors that definitely shouldn’t be used on hair. Music from my laptop’s dying speakers covers up most of the chatter, snipping of hair, and squeaking of sneakers against plastic wrap that fills the definitely overcrowded room. It seems every freshman in a five-mile radius wants to join the bathroom-turned-hair-salon-turned-function.

It’s not just my friends who suddenly got the hair transformation itch. The class of 2029 has somehow made haircuts a central part of our first weeks on campus. Our recently elected class president, Daniel Kim, CAS ‘29––also known as “DKutz”––campaigned by giving his future constituents free haircuts in the middle of the Quad. With the sun shining and music blasting, McClelland became a pseudo-barber shop, and a publicity stunt became the talk of the town.

*Serena Lin dyeing another student’s hair*

2029 isn’t the first. Last year, Michael Feng, M&T ‘28, launched the “upennhaircuts” account on Instagram, cutting hair on the 8th floor of Gutmann. In bathrooms across Penn, people are cutting, dyeing, and doing whatever else you can possibly do to hair––though when I asked my RA if she’d considered it, I received a scared and very definitive “no.”

That’s not exactly a shocking answer: I certainly don’t think I’d trust an eighteen-year-old with safety scissors and CVS dye to give me a makeover. Before college, I never would’ve considered it––but that’s why it’s so appealing to freshmen. To recite what I’m sure was said at one of the many NSO speeches I missed due to Freshman Flu, college is our first taste of true freedom. Your identity is yours to shape and reshape over and over. Hair is one of the easiest places to start. Getting the cut from a friend is more than just an alternative option for students hoping to spend all their money at Stommons. Barber shops and hair salons have always served as centers of community. Here at Penn, where everyone is away from home, we’ve gone and rebuilt that for ourselves, even in the dim lighting of a Hill bathroom.

*Julia Wang, CAS ‘29, Nicole Lui, and Serena Lin pose for a photo as they wash out hair dye in a sink*

The flash of a digicam lights up the, indeed, very dark room. It’s way too late at night, we’re definitely being too loud, and we’re absolutely going to complain as we vacuum the hair that wasn’t caught by our Trader Joe’s bag-turned-mat. I wouldn’t trade it for sitting in any professional salon. So, to anyone reading this and examining their strands, thinking about taking the leap: do it. It’s college after all.

Maybe not me, though.