Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Mike Seamon is in his sixth season as director of game day operations and fifth year overseeing cam‑ pus safety at Notre Dame. Blue & Gold Illustrated: What are your priorities for a home game? Seamon: "Safety and security are our top priorities. Not just in the Stadium, but throughout the whole campus. We want people to enjoy campus, enjoy the game and not worry about it. "We're doing everything to make sure the stadium is a se‑ cure place — from bag checks and all our security elements, even our EMTs and medical re‑ sponse because there are a lot of medical responses." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What is the biggest chal‑ lenge in preparing for a home game at night? Seamon: "Number one is how taxing it can be on the staff. The staff includes police, ushers, EMTs and first aid personnel, parking attendants and food service workers. It's a naturally long day. We open up our campus from the very beginning of the day, from 8 a.m., on. There are a lot of people here. "We've made a very deliberate decision to say we don't want to close our campus. We want people to come here and see their sons and daughters and go to the Grotto and the Basilica, hear the band, get some food and just enjoy the day. "It's a long day for our staff. Most of us are start‑ ing at the same time, but the day gets elongated by another five hours on the back end. You start at the same time, but you're going a heck of a lot later than you will for a day game. That's the biggest thing." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What other stressors do you encounter on game day? Seamon: "Traffic and parking are always a top thing because that touches a lot of people, al‑ most everybody in some form or fashion. Those are big areas of focus for us. "Then the other one that we have people addressing is our hospitality initiatives. That's a big bucket." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What are some of the hospitality initia‑ tives that have been made? Seamon: "We've made a con‑ scientious effort to open up the campus more, to open up more of our buildings, to make people more aware of all the different offerings, be it faith elements or academic elements or social elements. "An example of that is opening up the tunnel. No‑ body could ever go into the stadium at all to see anything. We'll get an average of 5,000 people every Friday through that tunnel in the afternoon. There was a conscientious effort to open up the university so people can experience it." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How much of a home game do you manage to watch? Seamon: "Zero. Hardly any. … My No. 1 goal is to keep track of the time and where we are in relation to the game clock, but I try to keep a tab on the score. "Sometimes I'll look up — especially the Michigan game this year — and think 'How did we get up 14‑0?' or whatever the case may be." — Douglas Farmer Five Questions With … DIRECTOR OF GAME DAY OPERATIONS/ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT OF CAMPUS SAFETY MIKE SEAMON Seamon said that there is a con- scientious effort to open up the university on a football Saturday so people can experience it. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS