WASHINGTON — LaMont Russell didn’t need much convincing once he found out about an opportunity to run a barbershop that provides free haircuts in the old dorm building where he used to live at his alma mater, Howard University.
It wasn’t about the money. Russell could easily make more at Best Cuts, a nearby barbershop where he works on Georgia Avenue.
Rather, for Russell, 29, who hails from Chicago, it was about the historic nature of becoming the first on-campus barber — at least in recent history — to provide services at the historically Black institution from which he earned a business management degree in 2011.
It was also about being able to mentor current Howard students who may aspire to obtain their barber’s license in addition to whatever degree they might earn, as Russell decided to do. And, finally, it was about carrying on a certain Howard tradition — one in which leadership and caring for one another are considered paramount, Russell said.
Thus far, student feedback has been “positive,” Russell told a recent visitor to the shop on the ground floor of Drew Hall — a dorm building where he used to live just across the street from the football field. But you don’t have to take his word for it. You can see the authentic appreciation for the service that Russell provides in the smiles that appear on young patrons’ faces when Russell breaks out the mirror so they can inspect his handiwork. And you can hear it in the testimony of students such as Jaylan Theus, 18, a nursing major from Nashville, Tenn., who estimates he’d probably have to spend $20 to $25 on haircuts every other weekend if it weren’t for the new on-campus barbershop.
“Funds are tight at times,” Theus said of himself and his fellow college students. “It’s very good to get a free cut. It’s very convenient.”
An added bonus is knowing that the barber is a Howard alumnus.
