BY SYDNEY BECKER
Staff Reporter
On the evening of April 26, the university attempted to break the Guiness World Record for the largest ice cream party. Although the event was advertised as an “ice cream party,” many students did not feel that this description reflected their experience.
Hosted at the Bob Carpenter Center, students and locals lined up outside the doors, which opened at 5:30 p.m., eager for some free ice cream. A ticket was required for attendance, and attendees chose in advance which of four UDairy ice cream flavors they wanted. Upon arrival and entry after showing a ticket, workers directed people to the basketball court.
“I was expecting it to just be like, walk in, there would be standing room, you know, maybe some activities to do while you wait, you could mingle with people,” AJ Rubinetti, a junior media communication major, said. “Instead you were kind of ushered in, assigned a seat, and we were sitting there in the dark not really knowing what was happening, and it just wasn’t in my opinion advertised correctly,”
Tickets for the event were sold out, and people who did not obtain tickets were turned away and encouraged to come back at 6:30 p.m., although some workers stated there was no guarantee any ice cream would be left. Participants were also filed into seats and told where to sit and to stay seated, while some were unable to sit with friends due to seating arrangements.
“You weren’t allowed to move, they were just like, ‘Sit right here,’” Kelly Feldmann, a senior cognitive science major, said. “Very demanding.”
The university did not break the record, as many failed to show up and some attendees decided to leave early due to frustration over the event and strict rules.
According to the Guinness World Records website, the current world record for the largest ice cream party is held by Unilever Italia, a school in Salerno, Italy, with 962 people in attendance.
The poster that advertised the event stated that free t-shirts and ice cream would be given out to the first 1,500 people, but the turnout was much lower than expected. During the event, students were also told that ice cream would be served at 7 p.m., although workers had previously stated that ice cream may run out by 6:30 p.m. Students were also told to sit in their seats and eat their ice cream until 7:30 p.m. This caused many students to leave before ice cream was served, as they did not want to sit waiting for 2 hours.
“I just don’t think it was smart,” Anastasia Stanley, a freshman undeclared major, said. “Why would you keep us there for two hours and not give us anything to do? We had to sit in our seats. I felt a little bit trapped.”
Prior to ice cream being served, there was a DJ playing music and two hosts from WVUD emceeing the event. However, students quickly grew restless, especially after getting there early right when doors opened. Some complained about the lack of entertainment and how the event differed from their expectations.
As workers tried to oversee the event, flaws in the set-up started to become apparent as attendees became increasingly impatient and eager for ice cream.
Despite the issues that arose from the event, some stayed for the two hour duration of the world record attempt, and, in the end, they got their ice cream. Some students also recognized the organizational flaws.
“On one hand it’s like, if you’re trying to break a world record, why are you trying to limit the amount of people who are coming, while also you have to limit the amount of people who are coming so you know how much ice cream to make,” Rubinetti said. “I do sympathize with the organizers of the event, but I also feel like they had a lot of mistakes that could have been corrected.”
Editor’s Note: AJ Rubinetti is a former staff member of The Review. As of the Fall 2022 semester, Rubinetti was no longer on staff.
