Courtesy of Towleroad, a fun article:

Beards, as a rule, command a certain degree of regard for the men — typically older — who wear them.

At age 17, Ryan Cole understands.

“There’s kind of a beard respect,” said Cole, a resident of Powell and junior at Olentangy Liberty High School. “If you can grow a beard, everyone’s like ‘Hey, very nice.’

“You have to respect someone with facial hair.”

The notion inspired Cole as well as pal Jared Acker (who reportedly grew his first beard in the sixth grade) to organize the Beard Club, an extracurricular group that will meet this month for the first time.

A dozen students have joined, they said, with two male teachers — both bearded, of course — serving as advisers.

Under a mission statement that emphasizes spreading “beard awareness and hygiene throughout the school community,” future topics include the history and care of beards, and grooming products.

When I was a senior at Judge, my friend Mike McDonough grew a beard that at time I thought looked magnificent and gave him the look of a brilliant Irish poet.