ABILENE, TX – Hardin Simmons opened up a new coffee shop, named after a well-known “man on campus.”
Our Jerry Huerta met up with students to talk about the goose and the coffee shop.
The legend of Gilbert the Goose is known all around Hardin Simmons.
Three years ago, some students brought him over from a nearby pond.
“They like, carried him in the box up the stairs to their dorm and they kept him in their hall. And each one of them would bring a box that was empty to make it look like, inconspicuous. So, they released him on the lawn and he’s literally been here ever since," said HSU student Megan Martin.
Now, he spends his time swimming and eating.
One couple feeds him four or five pieces of bread a day.
With every passing day, his legend grows.
Students can catch Gilbert at his normal home, the pond, or in his new location, the library.
Yesterday, the school opened its new coffee shop. And the students chose to name it, of course, after Gilbert.
Gilbert, what does it mean to have your own coffee shop?
Yep. He’s speechless.
“Obviously, we’re Cowboys, but he’s probably like Student Activities mascot because we put him on everything, we talk about him and we’re the ones who do the birthday parties – stuff like that,” said Martin.
It was almost 100 years since Hardin Simmons had an animal mascot. Dammit the Dog was the last one, so students are excited that they’ve created their own.
“I just think it becomes one of those things that is going to be passed into Hardin Simmons lore pretty quickly,” said Jeremy Maynard, Special Collection’s Manager. “That it will be the story that gets slowly...in 20 years, who knows what the story’s going to be.”
