On Tuesday, November 20, from 12 to 3 PM, UMass Boston’s Talk Radio Club will host BuzzCuts for a Cure, a charity haircutting event to benefit the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition and the Silent Spring Institute.

The club was founded last October by undergraduate psychology major, Jason Newhall. Newhall believes in taking action. When he learned that clubs could host on-campus events, he decide to take advantage of this and raise money for a good cause.

Just like a walk-a-thon, the premise is simple: Donors pledge money to volunteers who sit in a barber’s chair and have their beautiful locks shorn away, their beards scraped off or heads shaved clean. All the work will be done by four talented and generous local barbers and beauticians.

Over twenty volunteers have begun raising money already, but there’s still space for more. Newhall himself will be getting a haircut. The charity goes beyond the student body-members of UMass Boston’s IT department are chipping in to sponsor a fellow staffer.

UMass Boston student Kevin Mullen was on the phone Wednesday night with friends, trying to drum up more support for his upcoming trim. “I’ve already raised $80,” he said. Mullen hoped that since he had never gotten a buzz cut before, his friends and family would be more likely to pledge funds-if only for the novelty.

There is some social commentary behind the charity, admitted Newhall. “Women are supposed to be voluptuous, beautiful, with long hair. It’s particularly unfair when they lose their hair,” he said, commenting on popular societal views. “There’s a symbolism to what we’re doing,” added Newhall. “[Women with cancer] don’t have a choice, to lose their hair, so we’re taking that step ourselves… out of solidarity.”

The event is cosponsored by the Women’s Center. For more information, visit talkradioclub.com or email [email protected].