Steve Selby: Keeper of the UNT Coliseum

Steve Selby's primary workplace could make some people jealous. Not only does UNT's Coliseum double as a party venue, but with more than 200,000 square feet of space, it also hosts some of the biggest events in town.

Selby is director of the UNT Coliseum and the Gateway Center. He has managed everything from small receptions and large gatherings in the new center to collegiate athletic events and the 17 high school commencement ceremonies that took place in the Coliseum this year. He has seen thousands of guests pass through the doors in the 12 years he has worked here.

Because of all these events, his hours vary from a normal 40-hour week to 65 hours or more.

"I don't think many people realize how busy we are," Selby says. "The biggest thing about the job is the variety. I may be doing bills after an event one day or setting up prior to an event the next day. That makes it different from a structured job. I'm not sitting behind the desk all day."

He says he is used to the fast pace of the job and it is important to him that all the events go smoothly.

"You have to have a lot of energy and stay on top of things," he says. "You always want the event sponsors to feel that their event was a success."

Unfortunately, things don't always go smoothly. Selby remembers one UNT graduation where a crew had to sweep water out of the hallway in the lower level of the Coliseum for more than two hours while the commencement proceeded.

"You have to be ready for anything to happen," Selby says. "There can always be electrical problems or plumbing problems. We've had events when we have lost power to the building. On some occasions, water has poured down the north tunnel because the rain outside was coming down so hard the drains outside couldn't keep up with the water outside of the building."

Of all the events, Selby says his favorites involve athletics, especially basketball. Also an avid football fan, he was an athletic trainer while at UNT for an education degree in the late 1960s. Selby is also in his 32nd year of officiating high school football games for the Dallas chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials. Last fall he received the chapter's highest award, the Percy Penn Award.

Selby has a true UNT family. He met his wife, Kay, director of academic publications in University Communications and Marketing, in an education class in 1969 and they both graduated in 1970. Their daughter, Stephanie Stegall, and her husband, Steven, graduated from UNT in the fall of 1997, and the Selbys' son, Kristopher, will be a freshman studying accounting at UNT in the fall.

Selby's co-worker Connie Garland also went to UNT with Selby. She has worked at the Coliseum since 1974 and describes Selby as easygoing.

"He is very easy to work with and flexible," Garland says. "He's a great boss."

BY MICHELLE GARCIA paiswri1@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue:

• Regents name Dallas County Judge Lee Jackson as UNT System chancellor finalist
• UNT scientist says 1.75 million-year-old human fossils question theories of evolutionary sequence
• Committee formed to search for UNT College of Engineering dean
• New video created to boost UNT spirit and pride
• New director of women's studies selected
• Postal rates up as of June 30
• UNT departments move to new locations
• Staff Council changes bylaws to include UNT System staff
• Pohl recognized as outstanding administrator
• UNT parking permits for 2002-03 now for sale through intercampus mail
• Faculty Senate meets for the last time during 2001-02 year
• First aid kit supplies for sale

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