May 13, 2022
by Scott Bureau

About Students: Hair

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student with blond, red, and blue hair.

A. Sue Weisler

Daniel Amburgey, a first-year chemistry student from Cincinnati, started getting creative with his hair in fifth grade when his school hosted a Crazy Hair Day.

Hair, the iconic 1968 Broadway musical, exploded as a symbol of generational defiance. Among today’s generation, hair is a vehicle for self-expression and independence. Spotted across campus are vivid colors, selectively bleached strands, oversized afros, complicated braids, and carefully sculpted mohawks, mullets, and etched designs.

student with blonde and brunette hair.

A. Sue Weisler

It took Marie-Anne (Macha) Conde, a second-year illustration student from Haiti, six hours to create this look.

 

student with pink and blue hair.

A. Sue Weisler

As a form of self-expression, Lindsay Dobson, a third-year fine art photography student from Chicago, started dyeing and bleaching her own hair with every imaginable color.

 

student with brunette hair and a long, blonde mohawk hair style.

A. Sue Weisler

Noah Flanders, a second-year game design and development major from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., sports a bleached blonde afro.

 

student with short, straight hair half dyed teal, half dyed red.

A. Sue Weisler

Emily Luna, a first-year graphic design student from Rochester, has a cousin who is a hairdresser and did her hair.

 

student with neon green hair and a rat tail.

A. Sue Weisler

Ren Staggs, a first-year engineering student from Oklahoma City, mixes her own colors and dyes her own hair once or twice a month. She started the rat tail a couple years ago and is watching how long it can get.

 

student with short hair dyed many colors.

A. Sue Weisler

Alexander Sygowski, a first-year electrical engineering student from Newark, Del., hasn’t had his natural color since eighth grade. He likes to match his hair and outfits for special events.

 

student in a salon chair with bright red hair.

A. Sue Weisler

Bryce Wyckoff, a first-year statistics major from Perrysburg, Ohio, changes his hair color every three months for fun.

 

side-by-side images of student with red and yellow hair and student with long pink and neon green braids.

A. Sue Weisler

Left: Quinn Kolt, a fifth-year applied mathematics and computer science double major from Solon, Ohio, does a color change every year. Right: Joy Anderson, a fourth-year film and animation major from Washington, D.C., made this braided wig inspired by African-American beauty culture that celebrates hair, braids, and style changes.

 

side-by-side images of student with long, light blue braids and a student with wooden beads on the ends of her briads.

A. Sue Weisler

Left: Trinity Jenkins, a second-year chemistry student from Maryland, trained in classical ballet since she was 2 and natural hair was the rule. She decided that college was the right time to dye her hair and incorporate braids. Right: Zyan Kerr, a second-year mechanical engineering technology student from Brooklyn, N.Y., adorns her hair with dozens of wooden beads.

Topics

diversity
student experience

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