Aggie Ice Cream Day: USU students hand out Aggie Ice Cream at Utah Capitol
On Thursday, Feb. 23, a variety of Utah State University’s Student Association officers, along with members from USU’s Government Relations Council, spent the afternoon at the Utah State Capitol Building, handing out ice cream to state legislators and others working at the Capitol.
Aggie Ice Cream containers wait to be handed out at the Utah State Capitol on Feb. 23, 2023.
Ethan Conlee, the USUSA Student Advocate VP, said Aggie Ice Cream Day is a tradition that has been going on for decades.
“It’s a way of giving back during the session,” Conlee said. “Our legislators are only part-time. They do this for seven or eight weeks out of the year, and they don’t make very much money. They do it as a public service. This is the university’s way of saying, ‘Hey, we appreciate all the good work you’re doing.’”
Ethan Conlee, Student Advocate VP for USUSA, poses with Aggie Ice Cream at the Utah State Capitol on Feb. 23, 2023. (Photo/Elise Gottling)
The Aggie Shuttle arrived at the Capitol just before noon with coolers filled with Aggie Ice Cream on board.
Before distributing ice cream through the building, the students were joined for lunch by other USU students who are currently working as interns at the Capitol.
During lunch, Devin Wiser, vice president of government and external relations at USU, and Jennifer Seelig, director of community partnerships at USU, spoke to the students.
Wiser said Aggie Ice Cream Day is the favorite day of the session for many of the state legislators and others at the Capitol.
“I get asked about this day literally the whole session, like, ‘What day is Aggie Ice Cream Day?’” Wiser said. “I always have to know the day so I can tell them for sure when they’re going to get some Aggie Ice Cream.”
Seelig and Wiser shared a few of the things USU is working on with the state legislature and what bills the university is supporting.
These include supporting the USU Bingham Research Center’s work with air quality, creating a Utah earthquake engineering center, and increasing the number of certified medical interpreters in the state.
One student asked Wiser about a bill that would get rid of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion funding for USU, which had been introduced into the Senate that same day.
Wiser said he was hoping to meet with Sen. John Johnson, the one sponsoring the bill, later in the day.
“I’m going to try and sit down with him so we can explain our perspective on that and see what he’s hoping to accomplish,” Wiser said. “And hopefully, we can come to a good conclusion and make something that works out for everyone.”
After lunch and the speakers, the students broke into groups and spread out around the Capitol to give ice cream to everyone they could find.
Throughout the afternoon, these students, along with Big Blue, could be found connecting with legislators and others working for the state government.
USUSA traditions director Brie Adams was one of the students handing out ice cream.
“My experience here has been really fun,” Adams said. “We got to meet Gov. Cox and the lieutenant governor as well. It’s been cool to meet the representatives of Utah and get to talk to them as part of student government.”
A group of the students took ice cream into Cox’s office to meet with him.
“This is amazing,” Cox said. “This is our favorite day on the hill, and I don’t say that to everyone, I literally only say that to you. We love our Aggies. Thank you for coming. Thank you for bringing copious amounts of ice cream to get us through this.”
The students took a picture with the governor and proceeded to fill his freezer with extra ice cream.
Ice cream was taken to the break rooms in the Senate and House of Representatives, along with the attorney general’s office and several other offices. The students also gave ice cream to the state troopers at the entrances of the building.
Wiser said Aggie Ice Cream Day is an important day for USU to make an appearance at the Capitol.
“It’s a great way to stay on people’s minds, make sure legislators remember how great Utah State is,” Wiser said. “It’s a fun little flavorful reminder of what Utah State can do for the state.”