Junne Park, Photo Editor
The newly formed Ice Cream Eating Society (ICES) launched their No More Milky Ice Cream Campaign on Monday, Nov. 5 during their first general interest meeting in Danforth Dining Center.
Freshman Edy Haagendaaz was very disappointed with Danforth’s ice cream and suggested the campaign, which is aimed at eradicating the notoriously milky ice cream in Danforth.
This will be a multi-phased project which will first work to change the ice cream recipe in Danforth and then reeducate students about what ice cream is and provide counseling during the inevitably difficult transition period.
“We are depending on the University Counseling Center (UCC) to provide counselors specially trained for this type of situation,” ICES co-president and sophomore Ben Soft said. “We are determined to win the war on milky ice cream and the psychological hold it has on students.”
Junior Robin Baskin enjoyed the first meeting and supports the goal of the campaign. She hardly considers Danforth’s ice cream to be the real deal.
“It’s too runny,” she said. “If you eat it in a cone, it melts through the bottom and either makes a puddle or runs down your arm. If you have it in a bowl, you might as well get some cereal because it’s sugary milk.”
Since this complaint was so common among ICES members, the Society’s first project during their campaign will be getting real ice cream — and maybe even frozen custard — in Danforth.
“Because we are thinking about including frozen custard, we may want to consider a name change for the group,” Soft said. “Ice cream and frozen custard are totally different and we don’t want to offend frozen custard. It already feels bad because no one ever screams for frozen custard.”
The new club won’t just stop at fixing the runny ice cream. In fact, it started as merely a way to promote the bonding ice cream facilitates.
Soft and his roommate, sophomore Jerry Serve, founded the club last month. They lived in the Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls as freshmen and would go down to Danforth just before it closed to get chocolate and vanilla twist ice cream cones.
Now that they no longer live in Sue B., Soft and Serve realized how much they missed the camaraderie and sharing of ice cream that they experienced during their first year on campus. They felt this benefit, or rather privilege, shouldn’t be reserved for just freshmen.
“It just wasn’t the same anymore,” Serve lamented. “There was a hole in our hearts that needed to be filled. I’m convinced the only proper cure is the ice cream’s sugar.”
“We got to thinking — if ice cream cemented our friendship, like a Culver’s Concrete Mixer, then we should share that happiness with the rest of the campus,” Soft added.
He went on to explain that Culver’s is a predominantly midwestern restaurant chain specializing in “Butterburgers” and “amazing” frozen custard.
It was then that the idea of ICES was born. The next step was to publicize the new group and gain student interest, neither of which was hard to do according to the club’s founders.
“Within a week of putting up flyers, over 50 people emailed me expressing their love of ice cream and related frozen treats,” Serve said. “ They thanked us for creating a safe, judgment-free zone for all ice cream lovers.”
While the group’s focus will remain on the milky Danforth ice cream, they’re also looking forward to testing out new names that fit the club’s mission better in order to acknowledge their love of frozen custard and other similar desserts — not just ice cream.
One suggestion was made to name the club “With a Cherry on Top” in reference to ice cream sundaes, but that idea was rejected in fear of the sexual innuendos it could spawn.
People left the Nov. 5 meeting pondering ideas for the society’s name and catchy, non-political campaign slogans to solve the runny ice cream dilemma, but will always continue to wonder what they would do for a Klondike Bar.
Kath is a member of
the class of 2016.
