Dan Dickrell’s students have watched their professor’s hair grow and twist into new forms almost every semester.
Last Fall, he sported a commanding handlebar mustache. This basketball season, he ditched the whiskers in favor of a sky-high hair homage.
The 36-year-old engineering professor now sports a mohawk in honor of both the Gators’ winning streak and one of his favorite players, Will Yeguete.
“The engineering life is not always the most fun,” Dickrell said. “I try to break up the monotony as much as I can.”
He said he plans to keep the hairstyle until the Gators lose.
“If you look around basketball, it’s an emerging hairstyle,” Dickrell said. “I thought it would be really funny to see how many of my students I could recruit to do this with me.”
So far, none have.
“I laughed out loud,” said Michael Hallenstein, a 20-year-old UF civil engineering sophomore, when he saw the mountain mane.
He said his statics professor is known for doing things like this, and that it makes the class more fun without distracting him from learning. Dickrell agreed and said he often changes up his ‘do. He called the mohawk “one or two steps above” the norm.
“Regardless of what people think, the mohawk is not caused by static electricity,” Hallenstein joked.
Dickrell’s two children will be sporting the gelled look as well this year. The 5- and 7-year-olds display the ‘dos every summer, and this year, their dad will match.
“I’m keeping myself entertained at the same time,” Dickrell said.
No. 15 Will Yeguete doesn’t know the professor personally, but he doesn’t mind the tribute.
“I think it’s kinda cool,” said Yeguete, a 21-year-old UF international studies senior. “It’s something different.”
He said some of his friends on the team have had the hairstyle in the past, but he’s the only one that’s kept it.
“My mom really likes it,” he said.
With a 32-2 record and the 2014 SEC championship under their belt, the high hair might just be a good luck charm. And with the way the Gators have been playing, students ask Dickrell: What if they never lose?
“Yeah, I kind of opened myself up for that one,” Dickrell said, who clarified that he originally intended to keep the mohawk just until the end of the season.
He faltered.
“Well, I mean, I could still trim it, right?”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 3/20/2014 under the headline "Will Yeguete me a haircut? Prof rocks mohawk for Gators"]
UF engineering professor Dan Dickrell teaches class Wednesday. The professor shaved his hair into a mohawk for basketball season in the style of player Will Yeguete.
