Whether you choose chocolate or vanilla, a cup or a cone, two toppings or 10, a visit to the Sadler Center’s ice cream machine is the cherry on top after any meal, study session or late night adventure.
As students and faculty returned to the College of William and Mary for the fall semester, no one anticipated the change awaiting them that lay just beyond the doors of Sadler: a brand-new and drastically improved ice cream machine. As students noticed the upgrade, excitement swelled and a new life sparked into Sadler. Very quickly, eager students lined up to try the new sweet treat and were surprised with its stark contrast from last year’s.
Previously, Sadler offered acceptable ice cream with a modest array of toppings. However, the machine was extremely susceptible to damages and frequently required repairs that sometimes took days to complete, a tragedy for students who looked forward to the treat daily. Additionally, the ice cream had a reputation for tasting oddly watery and thin, and the topping options were often repetitive and sparse.
The new machine, however, offers ice cream that is richer, thicker and tastier than its predecessor, embodying the true characteristics of traditional soft serve ice cream. The topping containers have remained full and now cater to a wider variety of different tastes and preferences.
The much-needed upgrade has caused demand for the dessert to skyrocket, producing long lines of students awaiting their turn to take part in the new Sadler ice cream experience. Despite this increase, the machine has remained sturdy with no malfunctions.
“I thought that it was exquisite,” Lily Westhelle ’27 said. “I thought that it was creamy and delicious and was not reminiscent of the froyo vibes from last year.”
Westhelle was all too familiar with the mechanical difficulties the machine faced previously, and she was hesitant to believe anything was actually going to change. However, she was pleasantly surprised with the upgrade, and on a scale from one to 10, she gives this year’s ice cream an eight while giving last year’s between a six and a seven.
Multiple students added to this positivity, rating the dessert an eight out of 10. Andrew Funk ’28, who was likewise not expecting the change, has come to far prefer the ice cream produced by the new machine.
“It’s way more like ice cream, and it’s less like soup,” Funk said.
Brianna Kerns, a cashier at Sadler, also shared her thoughts on the new machine. Kerns learned about the change at the start of the fall semester and claimed it has become quite popular among the student body. She often witnesses the long lines of students that stretch out from both sides of the machine and snake through the dining hall waiting for their ice cream.
Despite the vast majority of positive opinions, every change is bound to be met with some pushback. For example, Kerns admits that she actually prefers the old ice cream machine.
“The new one is more creamier. The old one, I can’t put my finger on it. I like the old one better than I do like the new one,” Kerns said. “It tastes like a whipped cream more than an ice cream.”
Similarly, Taran Jeevan ’27 claims the new ice cream tastes less like soft serve and more like the ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, which is intended to be directly mixed with toppings to create a mash. On a scale from one to 10, he gives the new ice cream between a six and a seven.
While the upgrade has brought about mixed opinions, the general consensus around campus is that the new machine is a much-needed and highly appreciated addition to the dining hall that now enables students to enjoy quality ice cream whenever they choose.
While Kilwins and Baskin Robbins in Colonial Williamsburg have monopolized the local ice cream business, leaving the dining hall lagging behind, Sadler’s new machine has put them in the running for one of the best spots to get delicious ice cream around campus. Even better, it is free with your meal swipe. Hopefully this trend of positivity continues and the machine is able to keep up with the years of high demand it will inevitably experience.
