From Cow to Cone to Chancellor’s Choice

Soon, there will be a new Chancellor’s Choice among the flavors on the Howling Cow ice cream menu.

Continuing a school tradition that began at the turn of the century, NC State’s new chancellor, Kevin Howell, has made his decision about what that flavor will be, following in the hand-scooped picks of Marye Anne Fox, James Oblinger and Randy Woodson.

That’s his news to share, however, and it’s not quite ready for the big reveal.

Still, it’s an enduring and endearing legacy from NC State’s award-winning Howling Cow creamery, a commercial enterprise of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences’ dairy processing lab, which began designating a preferred flavor when directors Gary Cartwright and Carl Hollifield approached Fox to ask if she had a favorite ice cream.

Her selection was a celebration, not only of Fox’s place as NC State’s first female chancellor, but also of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences department’s long march to sell commercially branded products made from university research.

NC State’s milk and ice cream processing heritage dates back to 1918, often providing dairy products to the school’s dining halls. The university first started selling ice cream at the D.H. Hill Jr. Library and the University Student Center in the 1970s, as well as at the North Carolina State Fair, where its extra-large scoops became more popular than the Tilt-A-Whirl. In the early 2000s, after years of legal wrangling, Cartwright and Hollifield came up with the Howling Cow name and worked with Campus Enterprises and University Communications and Marketing to cement the logo and trademark used today to market ice cream and other products at various locations on campus and at the Howling Cow Dairy Education Center and Creamery on Lake Wheeler Road.

“Our idea was that the chancellor would have a flavor that was his or her own to serve to special dignitaries or at special events or whatever the case may be,” says Hollifield, who has been the education center’s director since Cartwright retired in 2019. “We just wanted them to have something special.”

Repping the Red and White (and Black) from State

Fox chose vanilla ice cream with a raspberry swirl and chocolate chips to mimic NC State’s red, white and black school colors. Oblinger, after he was installed in 2005, simplified the original formula because he didn’t like chocolate chips.

Woodson, as he often did, dreamed even bigger and threw out earlier conventions.

“He told us he didn’t care what color it is,” Hollifield says. “He just wanted it to taste good.”

Woodson’s choice was easy: a variation of the popular Moose Tracks flavor, with swirled fudge in vanilla ice cream with mini peanut butter cups. It was branded as Wolf Tracks.

The day after he was installed in 2010, Woodson helped scoop more than 75 gallons of Wolf Tracks to give to students, staff and faculty at an ice cream social on University Plaza.

It quickly became Howling Cow’s most popular choice.

“It has sold more than any other flavor that we have,” Hollifield says. “Typically, in the ice cream industry, top-selling flavors are vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, or cookie dough.

“For NC State, Wolf Tracks has been the top-selling ice cream since we debuted it.”

And sales are important. The Howling Cow dairy is a self-sustaining enterprise that does not receive state funding, with all dairy employees — from Hollifield to the student scoopers at various outlets — being paid with proceeds from ice cream sales. Those sales also pay for feeding the herd of 300 cows, teaching research and extension, graduate research and dairy operations.

“We’re here to further the mission of the university, providing students with access to the dairy supply chain, from cow to cone,” Hollifield says.

A new NC State-designed flavor is definitely on the horizon, pending Howell’s final approval, acquisition of the necessary certified ingredients and maybe a little overtime at the Howling Cow labs in Schaub Hall. It will be shrouded in secrecy until Howell is formally installed on Oct. 30 at Reynolds Coliseum or later, whenever it becomes available.

Until then, stay tuned, and stay spooned.