Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Five Questions With … Program Manager Of Crowd Control Jim Smith Jim Smith is in his third year as Notre Dame's program manager for crowd control. Prior to this position, Smith served as the assistant coordinator of stadium personnel, as well as a Joyce Center usher supervisor, since 1994. Smith studied at both Indiana State University and Indiana University-South Bend while working toward a bachelor's degree in criminology. Smith has also received certifications from the Play Like a Champion Today Training Series, Maryland State Fire Marshal's Crowd Managers Training Program, American Red Cross and the NRA. Blue & Gold Illustrated: As the program manager of crowd control, what are your main responsibilities? Smith: "Basically I am responsible for the event staffing of almost all of Notre Dame's athletic events. So, ushers, ticket takers, access control, things like that at all of the sporting events, as well as some of the other events at Notre Dame." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Why is it important to have the amount of ushers that are at Notre Dame events? Smith: "Statistically we don't really have any more ushers than any other stadium does. We do have a lot of ushers who work game days. What makes our program extremely unique is almost half of the ushers we have in the stadium are volunteers." ▼ Blue & Gold Illustrated: What steps are taken when a fan gets out of control? Smith: "Well, the fans never get out of control. But there are different policies and procedures that we go through. Obviously, our goal is not to throw people out of the stadium. We try to give the fan, whether it's a student or the public or the alumni or a benefactor, whoever the person is who is causing the problem, we try to give them every opportunity to adhere to university's guidelines. Smith "The only thing that we have a zero tolerance on is possession of alcohol. If it's foul language, if it's someone creating an incident, no matter what that would be, we would try to get that person to adhere to our policies before we make any action towards removal." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How does one become an usher? Smith: "It's mostly by word of mouth. The usher program has been going on since Knute Rockne, so it has got some history to it. We don't ever advertise. Ushers will know people who they think will make good ushers, so they recommend them. "Then there is a hiring process. We look for someone who is outgoing, able to think well on their feet, obviously someone who can provide good customer service even in trying times." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What do you love about your job? Smith: "It's working with the people. We have almost 900 ushers on our roster, and about 750-800 work on game day. They come from 22 different states. A lot of them fly in to games on their own nickel. So there's a lot of unique stories that come with the usher program. "And to see the excitement of people who come to a Notre Dame football game, you'll see people with tears in their eyes when they walk through the stadium gates. That's the best part of the job." — Staci Gasser Click here to listen to Blue & Gold Illustrated's complete interview with Smith.