This article was first published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night.
If you didn’t know Elder Gerrit W. Gong is a lefty, you do now.
On Saturday, Elder Gong was a guest ambassador for ice cream diplomacy, a recent addition to BYU football home games that begins with 90 seconds of handoffs. The apostle was part of a crew that handed out more than 4,000 half pints of ice cream to UCF fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Elder Gong turned into a passer because there were leftovers. He was every bit as accurate as BYU’s most famous left-hander, Steve Young, lobbing the 8-ounce containers to Cougar fans who raised their hands.
The story of ice cream diplomacy begins back in 2018, when university officials reviewed the experience of the visiting team’s fans.
The real roots, though, date all the way back to the 1990s, when BYU played its first games at Notre Dame, and Cougar fans returned home raving about the way they were treated in Indiana.
“We thought, why can’t BYU be known for something like that?” says Michael Johanson, executive director of the BYU Alumni Association. “So we thought, well, what can we do to to help our guests feel very welcome and have the best possible experience when they come to Provo and especially LaVell Edwards Stadium?”
The obvious answer was right there on campus at the BYU Creamery.
“It’s something that is generally universally liked,” Johanson said, “so we tested it out in a few games in 2019 and it seemed to land well.”
COVID disrupted the evolution of the plan, but testing continued in 2021 and 2022. There was a lot to work out.
Johanson said the biggest issues were figuring how to bring the right number of ice cream cartons, when to deliver them and how to do it quickly, which is a pretty big deal at a live event.
BYU officials found good answers, and alumni have handed out the ice cream for every home game in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Johanson’s team worked with the ticket office to get a good idea of how many visiting team fans would be at each game. They rallied alumni to meet at Portal G near the end of the first quarter to carry boxes of cartons into the stands in the stadium’s northwest corner, where the opposing fans sit.
The entire thing happens in about 90 seconds during the break between the first and second quarters.
“Usually it’s still anybody’s game at that point,” Johanson said, “and it’s between quarters, so we’re not interrupting the game.”
At first, he offered tickets to alumni who helped distribute the ice cream.
“I don’t have to do that anymore,” he said. “We have people who hear about it, and they just show up and they say, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of this.’ And they’ll bring their friends or other people who want to be part of this welcoming tradition we’ve created.”
The tagline for ice cream diplomacy is “connected for good.”
“What I love about this,” Johanson says, “is that it makes our fans be better fans, No. 1, and No. 2, it motivates other people to want to find ways to pay it forward and replicate it.”
Arkansas returned the favor when the Cougars played in Fayetteville, giving out popcorn to a lot of BYU fans. That’s not easy because of the numbers the BYU football team draws wherever it plays.
“We’re a little overwhelming,” Johanson says.
They’re is a deeper goal than just improving the visiting fan experience.
It’s an opportunity to share goodness and kindness, Johanson says.
“We’re not embarrassed to say we’re trying to share the light of Christ that he wants us to reflect in the lives of other people who cross our paths and who are on our journey with us,” he says.
On Saturday, the Alumni Association ordered 4,502 cartons of ice cream. BYU Dining Services provides a variety of flavors, like cookies and cream and “Graham Canyon.” When BYU President Shane Reese joins the fun, he hands out the ice cream named for him and his taste buds, “In-Shane-ly Chocolate.”
This year, the frozen gifts included “150 Swirl,” a temporary flavor that is part of BYU’s 150th anniversary celebration.
Initially, the money for the ice cream came from the alumni association’s operating budget. Then a fan decided to step in and pay for the whole thing.
“If there’s a small thing we can do to welcome people to BYU, I’d love to be a part of it,” says that donor, Robert Smith.
Smith says what usually makes national news about fan behavior at Cougar football games are the profane chants of a minority of fans at some away games.
“If there is a way we can turn that and say, ‘Even though we’re rooting for different teams, we love you and we want you to enjoy your time with us and we care for you,’ I think that can make a difference,” he says.
Smith hands out the ice cream at some games and said opposing fans usually are shocked.
“They see I’m in BYU blue and I’m handing it out to people in red or purple and they’re so surprised,” he says.
He loves to see opposing fans post messages on social media about how welcomed they felt at a BYU game in Provo.
Smith’s sister, Liz Mower, invited Elder Gong and Sister Susan Gong to be ice cream ambassadors for the UCF game.
The fans who help hand out the treats regularly tell Johanson that their interaction with the opponents makes them want to be better BYU representatives.
“What that means to me,” Johanson says, “is that it makes them want to be a better person to their neighbor and to follow those commandments that we have, which is to love God and love our neighbor. This is one way that we can show how we keep those commandments.”
BYU fans may not even realize that the home game ice cream giveaways are part of the same effort as the service projects the alumni association sponsors at away games.
When BYU plays Texas Tech this weekend at the Big 12 Championship Game, the university will sponsor a food drive at a Fan Fest from 6-9 p.m. on Friday in Dallas.
The university’s efforts even go beyond ice cream and service projects. BYU’s band plays the opposing team’s fight song, and BYUtv makes videos about charitable efforts undertaken by opponent schools.
“Sure, there’s a football game and we want there to be competition on the field,” Johanson says, “but in the stands and among the fans and in the communities that we represent and come from, especially in our families, we’re all on the same team.
“Maybe a little bit of ice cream diplomacy can help us remember that.”
My Recent Stories
Mission over money: The inside story of why Kalani Sitake chose BYU over Penn State (Dec. 2)
Rise above and overcome the world with Christ, says President D. Todd Christofferson (Dec. 2)
AJ’s aura: The ‘most unselfish superstar,’ AJ Dybantsa lifts BYU by buying in like he always has (Nov. 26)
About the church
The chasm of difference between being the prophet and one of his counselors landed squarely on President Dallin H. Oaks when his friend, President Russell M. Nelson, died in September. Sister Kristen Oaks recently told our Sheri Dew that the “weight of the responsibility” President Nelson carried as prophet “is real, it is tangible, and I saw it fall on (President Oaks).” Read the story here.
Elder David A. Bednar dedicated the first Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Azerbaijan.
The public open house for the Davao Philippines Temple will be held March 26-April 10. Then Elder Dale G. Renlund will dedicate it on May 3.
Elder Patrick Kearon visited Latter-day Saints and friends in disaster-stricken Cebu, Philippines.
Elder Gérald Caussé is the latest guest on the Church News podcast. In case you missed it, Deseret News editor Sarah Jane Weaver served as the guest host and spoke with the newest apostle about his thoughts on his new calling, his love for his family and the humbling honor of discipleship as he is called to be a special and lifelong witness of the name of Jesus Christ.
What can visitors see and do at Temple Square this Christmas?
The Young Women general presidency invited youth to Light the World through Christmas traditions.
Sister Amy A. Wright went to the Provo MTC and shared timeless lessons from one of the great Book of Mormon missionaries.
Church leaders offered support and sympathy after the deadly fire in a Hong Kong high-rise.
The church donated $50,000 to Utah’s newest Hindu temple.
What I’m reading
The story of five boys whose father died highlights another way BYU football supports communities. This is a tender story of football adding light in lives.
Sharon Eubank, who long has directed much of the church’s humanitarian work, is one of the most thoughtful and practical leaders I have ever interviewed. I need to get my hands on her new book, “Doing Small Things with Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World." I’m glad my colleague Valerie Jones sat down with Sister Eubank to talk about the book and why she wrote it.
Sports fans do want to know: How much does a high school football recruit earn in the NIL and revenue-sharing era (paywall)?
The story of Giving Tuesday is pretty cool. Here’s another look from my colleague, Amy Ortiz: "What is Giving Tuesday? A ‘global generosity movement.'"
This was a most unexpected headline: “Elton John and Alice Cooper express thanks for divine help. They’re not alone among rock stars."