PHOTO: BROWN ARCHIVES

The producers of “Today” had decided last August that they wanted to focus on higher education, and they chose two schools to compare and contrast: the University of Michigan (a large, public Midwestern university with an excellent academic reputation and excellent athletics) and Brown (smaller, private. Eastern, excellent academic record, and Ivy League athletics). Production teams were in daily contact with the Brown News Bureau as feature stories were suggested, and frequently rejected.

The technical crew arrived on campus early in the week and began the labyrinthine preparations necessary to broadcast a national television show from an outpost such as Providence. A control booth was set up in a Hope College lounge, a satellite dish was installed on Prospect Street, and soon coils of telephone and electrical wire snaked across campus. Security guards were posted for round-the-clock stake-outs to guard the lights and equipment. The cost to Brown?

“Everything was paid for by the ‘Today’ people,” says Eric Broudy, director of the Brown News Bureau. “They paid for the platform, for the set, the phone lines, and the security guards. We did supply them with breakfast the morning of the show. And we got a bargain from the bookstore for Brown sweatshirts for the whole crew.”

Pauley and Howard Swearer prepare for their live 7:15 a.m. interview, during which Pauley will be booed when she asks the president if Brown is perceived to be an “easy” school.

The end result of the months of planning was a show that featured little or no serious educational content. But, as Pauley remarked at a post-show press conference,“This is entertainment, not news.”

As entertaining as the show, perhaps, was the crowd watching the show. Describing the audience as “enthusiastic” doesn’t do it justice. Many of the students were sporting buttons that read, “Hi, Jane,” which the senior class had been selling in the post office for fifty cents the day before. Once during the show, Pauley bravely sat among the huddled masses while onlookers expressed some concern for her safety. Several men were wearing Groucho Marx masks (glasses, nose, mustache) and were carrying a sign that declared “I Dream of Gene,” referring to “Today’s” entertainment guru, Gene Shalit. who was not on either campus. Some seniors had moved their livingroom furniture, including the television, from their dorm out onto the Green and were appropriately dressed for the early hour in bathrobes and pajamas. Another cluster of students rolled a barbecue in front of Faunce House and proceeded to cook breakfast—the smell of grilling meat wafted gently towards the cameras. And, out of camera range, close to University Hall, a group of approximately twenty students stood a silent vigil, their faces painted white, holding signs that protested NBC’s lack of coverage of the war in El Salvador.

Pauley interviews James Forman, Jr. ’88, a member of Brown Divest, a student group urging Brown to divest totally of all stocks in companies doing business in South Africa. PHOTO: BROWN ARCHIVES

The show ended with a “Battle of the Bands” between the two schools. Before the show was aired, the Brown band ran through its skit twice for a technical rehearsal, and as the members finished the routine, one of the technicians in the control booth remarked, “That’s it? That’s all they do? Is that all there is?”—Katherine Hinds

This article originally appeared in Brown Alumni Monthly, vol 86 no. 3, November 1985