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barber cutting hair, out of focus with the background in focus showing posters on the wall
The pop-up barbershop featured historical information about the importance of such establishments since the 19th century.

Photo: Jeremy Gasowski

Style Time

Boston barbers offer free haircuts for students in return to a pre-pandemic diversity, equity and inclusion initiative
Adrian Sutton ’23 is used to struggling to find local barber shops he feels confident visiting. Even when he’s discovered places that have a barber he can build a rapport with, many others on the staff often don’t seem to have the same experience cutting all hair types. “Sometimes around here it’s hard to find barbers you can trust,” Sutton says. So Sutton was quick to jump on the opportunity to get a haircut on campus this spring, when barbers from D’Cachet Barber Shop in Roslindale, Massachusetts, visited UNH as part of a diversity, equity and inclusion event that offered free haircuts to students, catering to all hair types and styles. This year’s event was hosted by UNH’s Committee on Mutual Respect (COMR). During the school year, some students often drive to neighboring states, or wait until they return home for break, to have their hair cut, due to a lack of local outlets able to tailor services to all hair types. Marcel Vernon, UNH’s chief financial officer, made the connection with D’Cachet thanks to a friendship with owner Elvis Presinal, and Vernon covered the cost of Presinal and two of his barbers setting up shop in Lundholm Gymnasium. The COMR team also posted educational information about the cultural history of Black barbershops along a gym wall, which explained that owning a barbershop was one of the only businesses open to Black entrepreneurs in the free Northern states during the 19th century, and that they didn’t begin catering specifically to Black patrons until after emancipation in 1863. During the rise of the Jim Crow laws, spaces where Black people could gather were limited, and barbershops became a safe refuge from discrimination. That sharing of cultural impact and history, coupled with the opportunity to offer students free haircuts from experienced barbers, are some of the reasons that members of the COMR hope to make this event a more regular occurrence.
— Keith Testa