Dr. Paul Roof is a facial hair enthusiast. The winner of Best In Show at RVA Beard League’s 2014 Mid-Atlantic Beard & ‘Stache Championships, Dr. Roof is the founder of Holy City Beard & Mustache Society in Charleston, SC. He is also an associate professor of sociology at Charleston Southern University–or at least, he was until last Friday, when he was fired by the university.



Dr. Paul Roof is a facial hair enthusiast. The winner of Best In Show at RVA Beard League’s 2014 Mid-Atlantic Beard & ‘Stache Championships, Dr. Roof is the founder of Holy City Beard & Mustache Society in Charleston, SC. He is also an associate professor of sociology at Charleston Southern University–or at least, he was until last Friday, when he was fired by the university. The reason? His picture appeared on cans of Holy City Brewing‘s new Chucktown Follicle Brown beer. Apparently university officials felt that this appearance “was not representative of a Christian environment.”



Photo by Julie Ferguson

The photo, which was taken at a New Orleans beard and mustache competition in 2013 by photographer Greg Anderson, does not depict Roof’s normal appearance. However, he wore his beard in a similar style during the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Beard & ‘Stache Championships, held in RVA on April 26, as can be seen above. The style won Roof a first place award in the category of Full Beard Styled (Freestyle), as well as Best In Show. It clearly also attracted the imagination of Holy City Brewing, who initially prepared the cans of beer featuring Dr. Roof’s likeness without his knowledge. “My image and likeness, which I do not own, that I’ve never received compensation for, and it was a surprise for me that it was put on a beer can by Holy City Brewing,” he says. However, when contacted for permission to use the image once the cans were in production, Roof gave his assent.

Roof, who is currently fighting what he considers an unfair termination, says the experience has been “an emotional rollercoaster.” He was initially consulted about his appearance on the beer can earlier last week, at which time he thought everything was OK. “I was given an email message early this week. I met with my dean Wednesday, and my answers were sufficient for him,” he tells News 2. “But on Friday, I was called into the VP’s office, and that’s where I was terminated.” Roof feels this termination was unfair, calling into question the idea that a Christian environment should have anything to do with one’s facial hair. “For me a Christian environment entails two things: looking out for other people and forgiveness of others who’ve transgressed you.”

Roof has received an outpouring of support from all directions since the news of his firing was made public. “The response [on] social media, from students that I had 15 years ago, 8 years ago, has been overwhelming,” he told the Daily Mail. Meanwhile, RVA Beard League’s Facebook page replaced their profile picture with an image of Roof’s face as it appeared on the beer can, captioned “We Support Paul Roof.” The message accompanying the photo reads in part: “We’re behind our friend and supporter of our group from Day 1, Paul Roof, Commander of the Holy City Beard & Moustache Society in Charleston, SC… The RVA Beard League supports Paul Roof and all the work he and the HCBMS do for their hometown.” Roof has not discussed his plan going forward, as he is in talks with a lawyer about what his options are. However, I think we can all agree that Charleston Southern University should learn not to fear the beard.