UNL Dairy Store Honors New UNL President with “Heart of Gold” Ice Cream Flavor

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska News Service) – With its artisan ice cream and prime location at the entrance to East Campus, the Dairy Store is a crowd favorite at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an ideal venue to host a president of ‘university.

The Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources hosted an event Sept. 19 at the Dairy Store to unveil an ice cream flavor created in honor of new University of Nebraska-Lincoln President Jeffery Gold. Dairy industry executives and university partners who supply products to the Dairy Store, which opened in 1917, attended the celebration.

In July, the Board of Regents nominated Gold for president, placing him in line to continue the tradition of ice cream flavors created to commemorate UNL presidents. The last president, Ted Carter, chose Carter Coffee Crunch in 2021, and another former president, Hank M. Bounds, chose Bounds Mississippi Mud in 2015.

Gold worked with dairy store employees to develop his signature flavor, white mint chocolate chip ice cream. He said it was an easy choice. Gold was then tasked with choosing a name.

“We interviewed hundreds of people,” Gold said at Thursday’s Dairy Store event. “We got a lot of different suggestions and we ended up getting ‘Heart of Gold.’

Two key areas of Gold’s life may have inspired the name “Heart of Gold”. Gold previously served as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and worked as a cardiac surgeon. Gold said ice cream also sparked the romance with his wife, Robin Gold.

The Golds met while working at an ice cream shop on the campus of Cornell University in New York. They celebrated their 50th anniversary this year by visiting a new ice cream parlor in town where their love story began. Robin Gold shares her husband’s favorite flavor of mint chips.

Remembering the rich mint chocolate chip ice cream cones he enjoyed as a child, Gold said he wanted to be sure The Dairy Store would do justice to his favorite flavor. The producers suggested a white mint for a more sophisticated taste.

“My wife and I really love ice cream and are a little picky about what type of ice cream we enjoy, where it comes from and how it’s made… things of that nature,” Gold said. “So we took this very seriously.”

Duy Nguyen, manager of the UNL Dairy Store for more than four years, also shared an ice cream-inspired love story.

“I actually met my wife at the dairy store. At that time, I think we were getting white chocolate and lavender ice cream,” Nguyen said. “We got married three years ago, so that’s 11 years together.”

Nguyen said students from across the university system are involved in the daily operations of the dairy store. Food science students working in the Food Processing Center make the ice cream, and students from various majors work behind the counter to serve it.

“We are the front door. Every student, when they visit East Campus, will stop at the dairy store,” Nguyen said. “Also, who doesn’t want to work for the university, right? It’s a proud job and also an opportunity to contribute your talent.

UNL’s Dairy Shop isn’t just a home of delicious ice cream flavors; it’s the final step for Nebraska’s latest innovations in the dairy industry.

Bob Larson, owner of Larson Farms dairy farm in Creston, Nebraska, was also at the event. He said the time from cow to cone is remarkably fast.

“When we milk the cow, the milk is immediately cooled to 38 degrees,” Larson said. “A truck picks him up and takes him to treatment, then 48 to 60 hours later. It literally comes back to the door as a processed product.

Although the Larson Farm’s products don’t end up at the dairy store, the methods they use determine the operations of many Nebraskan dairy farms that supply products to the university.

As a fourth-generation dairy farmer, Larson has seen his family business grow from a traditional farm to an efficient, high-tech operation complete with robots that milk the cows.

“In 2018, we took the plunge and built a new barn with four robots and dairy cows,” Larson said.

As Larson Farms increases its workforce efficiency, it also considers animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Solar panels, LED lights and water recycling for crops are three measures they have implemented to reduce their carbon footprint.

With an ever-changing selection of flavors, Heart of Gold will only be available for a limited time.

“I hope everyone comes and enjoys,” said President Gold. “It will be stocked throughout our sports facilities, obviously here at the dairy store. And after tasting it twice, I totally give it a thumbs up.

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