After police called last year’s Tommie-Johnnie football game in Collegeville, Minn. the “rowdiest” crowd in 27 years, William Carter, Public Safety special projects manager, said St. Thomas plans to have Saturday’s rivalry game under control.

Carter said he is confident that Public Safety officers will be prepared for unruly fans and will respond accordingly.

“There will be extra staffing for this event and it’s not in anticipation of problems, it’s in anticipation of being able to provide quality service for people to have a safe environment,” Carter said.

Carter said Public Safety has reviewed and critiqued previous procedures in preparation for the game.

Logistically, Saturday will operate as a typical football game with more emphasis put on safety. Ticket sales will begin at 10:30 a.m., and gates open at 11 a.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for non-students, but St. Thomas students, faculty and staff get free admission with their St. Thomas ID card.

Carter said Public Safety expects similar attendance to the last Tommie-Johnnie game at O’Shaughnessy Stadium in 2011, when roughly 10,400 people filled the stands.

Carter also said it is important to build a “comprehensive” plan for parking. Guests are strongly encouraged not to park in neighborhoods and will have access to 1,000 parking stalls on South Campus.

St. Thomas does not have bus parking and is not making arrangements for any students who choose to take party buses. Instead, Public Safety encourages people to carpool, take Metro Transit or use Nice Ride bicycles.

The university will incur extra costs in providing extra staff to keep the environment monitored, but Carter said this type of expense usually comes with hosting a game as sizable as Tommie-Johnnie.

The St. Paul Fire Department and other emergency care staff will have a reserve medical unit on campus for immediate emergency response.

Carter said each circumstance of alcohol consumption will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and “handled as such.” Carter said he was not aware of St. John’s hosting policies, but the police reported an overflow of students in detoxification last year.

Sophomore Allison Northrop hopes that Public Safety will have patience for all of the fans at the game.

“I feel like Public Safety has every right to want to keep campus safe and under control, but honestly, Tommie-Johnnie is known for its rowdiness,” Northrop said. “I think that Public Safety should focus less on (us) … and understand that we are all college kids just trying to have fun on the biggest game of the year.”

Public Safety will follow standard procedures and ask attendees to dump out any open containers or bottles upon entering O’Shaughnessy Stadium. St. Thomas will have a room where people will be evaluated on their ability to care for themselves.

“We’re going to be fair across the board,” Carter said. “Our role is to provide care and assistance to those people who need it and it won’t matter what color jacket or sweatshirt they are wearing in the process or what their age is.”

Planning for Saturday began after last year’s Tommie-Johnnie game held in Collegeville, Minn. Carter said several departments participate in the process, including Athletics, Student Affairs and Information Resources and Technologies.

“The closer we get to game day, the more deliberate and intentional we get on being able to hone in that plan,” Carter said.

Carter said derogatory T-shirts and chants toward the Johnnies should not be a part of the rivalry, as disrespectful behavior goes against the St. Thomas mission statement.

“The rivalry is really about a spirit of competition, being safe, having a good time, razzing your friends or colleagues who may have gone to the other institution and having a good time watching two quality football teams play,” Carter said. “The other stuff doesn’t fit into the rivalry at all.”

Sophomore Remington Jaques said the university will have its work cut out simply because St. John’s seems to have much more open space than St. Thomas.

“We’re in the middle of the city, and we are in a residential area, so there are a lot of families around. You don’t really have that problem at St. John’s, so I’d imagine they will be giving out a lot more citations than they did last year,” Jaques said.

Jaques said he plans on being safe because he wants to enjoy the game without any problems.

“From what I saw last year, I’m pretty sure some lives were probably saved by kids getting put into detox because there were kids falling all over the place, puking in the middle of the stands. That’s pretty much inevitable, but I don’t think the university is out of line for taking extra precautions with that,” Jaques said.

When St. Thomas hosted two years ago, Carter said Public Safety didn’t have any major problems and will work to ensure fans are safe and having a good time again this time.

“Our goal … is to assist with creating a safe environment, but that’s also up to the people that are attending the game to create that safe and respectful environment,” Carter said.

Zach Zumbusch can be reached at zumb8499@stthomas.edu.