James Madison communications and alumni coordinator Sam Troutman said the idea came from multiple people within JMC when they were planning how to celebrate the college’s 50th anniversary.

There are currently 10 selections of ice cream that are up for consideration out of the original 60 plus recommendations by alumni, students and current faculty of JMC, which can be voted on until the end of March 24.

“They were all really fantastic,” Troutman said. “All very characteristic of James Madison.”

The selections were narrowed down to 10 ice cream flavors from the JMC alumni board. Faculty and staff asked them to list their top 10 flavors, and took the most popular 10 from those lists. Some potential flavors include Federalist Fudge and James Madicinnamon Swirl.

Troutman said JMC hopes to have the ice cream ready by graduation and will continue to have it until the end of the next academic year.

MSU Dairy Store complex manager John Engstrom said depending on how well the JMC ice cream flavor does, it could end up being in the Dairy Store long term.

“You can pretty much get a feel for it when you see what it is, what it’s called and the right combination,” Engstrom said. “And then you just watch and see if people buy it, then you know it will be a good one.”

Sometimes making these event-specific ice cream flavors can be challenging, Engstrom said.

“The hardest part is coming up with the ingredients,” Engstrom said. “Sometimes you have the greatest flavor combination, and you can’t get the ingredients because the minimum is like buying a pallet load … it all depends.” 

When creating a flavor for an event, Engstrom said he suggests basing the ice cream off event themes to get the flavor or the color of the ice cream.

“Some people will create the name first, and then get the ice cream flavor to match it and others will come up with an ice cream and then come up with a name that matches it,” Engstrom said. “There’s no set rule.”

Troutman said one of her favorite aspects of going through this process of gathering potential ice cream flavors is the stories people have created around them, especially ones including the Federalist Papers, which James Madison freshmen have to read.

“You can really see that in the ones that are in the top 10, that it’s not just, ‘Well, this tastes good,’” Troutman said. “It tastes good and it has something related to James Madison in terms of its history or James Madison himself.”

International relations and journalism sophomore Bailey Laske said even though she hasn’t voted yet, she said this is an interesting way for JMC to “express their personality” and should be spread across other colleges at MSU.

“I think it’s a really great idea,” Laske said. “I would love to go to the Dairy Store and order James Madison ice cream. I think it’s really exciting.”