SHU Professor Dana Schumacher-Schmidt Appears on Iconic Game Show

This university English professor appeared on one of America’s most iconic television game shows. Who is Siena Heights University Associate Professor of English Dana Schumacher-Schmidt?

Appearing as a contestant on “Jeopardy” on April 27-28, Schumacher-Schmidt was crowned the new show champion on April 27 in come-from-behind fashion, and finished second on the April 28 show. She had a two-day total winnings of $22,600, and got both of her Final Jeopardy! answers correct.

She said she was contacted to be on the show in late January, and flew out to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., in late February to do the taping.

“I did feel a little bit nervous,” said Schumacher-Schmidt of making the trip during the COVID-19 pandemic. “But I felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The show first aired on television in 1964, and has won a record 39 Emmys. TV Guide included Jeopardy in its 60 greatest shows in American television history. Formatted as a quiz competition with clues in the form of answers, contestants must phrase their responses in the form of questions.

Schumacher-Schmidt said she applied to be on the show by taking the initial 50-question test. Once she passed the test and met the minimum eligibility requirements, she was placed into a random selection process for an invitation to audition. After her virtual audition in December, she was then placed into the contestant pool and then waited to be invited to compete.

Once arriving at the studio, she said the strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols the show’s production staff put in place were reassuring.

“I think they did a very good job of explaining of what they were doing to keep everyone safe,” said Schumacher-Schmidt, who was tested multiple times before the show. “They had just very set protocols for social distancing. Wearing masks, of course. We all did our own makeup.”

She said it was “surreal” to see in person the studio that she’s seen on television for so many years.

“One of the safety measures they had in place is you couldn’t actually be in the Jeopardy studio until they were taping,” she said. “We were actually hanging out on the Wheel of Fortune set, which was right next door to the Jeopardy set. That was super surreal to get to watch the Wheel of Fortune set being constructed. I actually got to see the Wheel, which was really fun.

“Walking into that space and seeing that set you’ve seen so many times on TV, it was just kind of overwhelming. … To see behind the scenes, it was really different.”

With the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November 2020, Jeopardy has had a rotating guest host. Schumacher-Schmidt said her guest host was CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Schumacher-Schmidt said Cooper and the entire Jeopardy contestants and crew made for a great experience.

“It was so much fun,” she said. “That’s the thing I would want to communicate about being on the show, was that it was really so much fun to get to be a part of it. Everyone involved in the show was so nice and so helpful and supportive and funny. All the other contestants were friendly. While you were playing it’s competitive, but throughout the day it felt like everyone really enjoyed being part of the experience.”

She said playing in person and playing at home are completely different experiences.

“It’s a lot easier at home,” Schumacher-Schmidt said. “Part of it is just nerves, of course, because you’re up there and trying not to think about the fact that this is going to be on national television for everyone to see. It’s one thing to know the answer, right? But to be able to ring in before your competitor, who probably also knows the answer, I think that’s a big part of it.

In fact, contestants played a practice game to get used to the timing and pace.

“Timing was one of the most difficult things to kind of get the hang of,” she said. “That is one of the things that makes the actual experience really different from when you are on your couch and can just shout out the answers.”

Schumacher-Schmidt said she was thankful for the opportunity. She said she watches the show “almost every day,” and while watching often texts with her mother, who lives in Florida and is also an avid fan.

During the personal sharing part of the show on April 28, she said, “I had to end class about 15 minutes early on the day when I had my Zoom audition, just to make sure I had enough time to be all logged in and everything. And, so, I made a deal with my students that if they let me do that, I would share with them a cut of my winnings. So there are like 11 college students in Michigan watching this very closely right now.”

Recognized by the university as the 2019-20 Eileen K. Rice Award Winner for Outstanding Teacher, she is completing her seventh year at Siena Heights. She said her position as a faculty member helped prepare her for the show.

“I’m really fortunate with the job that I have that I’m learning all the time,” Schumacher-Schmidt said. “I’m really lucky to learn about such a wide range of things on a daily basis.”

She said she “felt fine” about her effort on the show.

“At least I went out on a correct answer,” she said. “That’s respectable. I feel OK with that. I did my best.”