If you have walked around campus in the past few months, you most likely have seen some people sporting a ‘Mercyhurst Cow-Tipping Team’ shirt.

The design is very simple, with a picture of a cow on the front of it with some black lettering.

The first shipment of the shirts sold out in a week with dozens of students flocking to the bookstore to get their own shirt.

Grace Mullins, junior dance major and employee at the bookstore, said that she originally got the shirt because she thought it was funny. “I saw a couple of different people wearing the shirt around campus and didn’t realize it was actually made at the bookstore. I thought someone just made it as a joke or something, but when I realized the Mercyhurst Bookstore was selling them, I knew I had to get it,” said Mullins.

Many people are wondering why the bookstore is selling this shirt or where it came from in the first place. Daniel Cullen, general manager of the bookstore, said that it first came into creation a few decades ago.

“It really was just supposed to be a fun, silly thing, but people have just gone crazy for it. Each time we bring that design back, it sells out so fast. We originally were gonna have it as a one-time design, but we’ve brought it back a few times now,” said Cullen.

Some students have even stopped in recently and asked when the bookstore will be supplying more of the cow-tipping shirts, because the second shipment sold out just as fast as the first one. Cullen said that there will hopefully be another shipment in late summer or early fall of this year. “Lots of other schools have funny shirts that aren’t necessarily meant to advertise the school, but rather have the purpose of just showing something silly and fun. That’s what this is,” said Cullen.

There is not a deeper meaning to the shirt – Mercyhurst is not getting a cow-tipping team anytime soon. However, keep an eye out for the next shipment of these shirts, because they seem to be going quickly! Getting merchandise at the bookstore, especially with something fun like the cow-tipping shirts, shows solidarity with other students in a fun way.

Consider purchasing a cow-tipping shirt when they are back in stock to keep the tradition alive, and to confuse people for years to come.