Wednesday, NBC’s Tom Brokaw was skiing in Vancouver and interviewing athletes. Thursday, he was at UALR’s Cooper Fountain, putting the finishing touches on his CNBC special “Boomer$” airing March 4.

The former anchorman at the Peacock network interrupted his Olympic experience to fly into Little Rock and sit down with former President Clinton – some might say the Boomer generation’s commander-in-chief.

After defining “The Greatest Generation” in his bestselling book, Brokaw’s CNBC piece turns his sights to their successors, the Baby Boom generation that vowed to change the world. The program will air at 8 p.m. CST Thursday, March 4.

Brokaw and his producers wanted a specific backdrop to end the program – a comment about the next generation of college students. They needed a location for the final standup. Enter UALR.

UALR’s Office of Communications received a quick heads up from Stephanie Streett, director of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Brokaw’s producer and camera crew headed to campus as the anchorman and the former President finished up.

Angela Parker, who facilitates broadcast news media for the office, revved up the intrepid golf cart and chauffeured the network crew to potential stand-up shot locations. They set up in front of Cooper Fountain between the old student union building and Dickinson Hall for the outside shot.

Tweets from the Office of Communications’ Web Communications Coordinator Shari Erwin allowed campus tweeters to follow the action, and many showed up to meet the visiting celebrity. Alumni Association Director Christian O’Neal saw the tweets, realized he had Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation” in the office, and got it autographed.

A contingent of students from the School of Mass Communication got the word that an industry icon was in the neighborhood and became the ambient campus crowd in the shot.

By the time the crew got their shot, Brokaw had drawn a crowd. He took his time with the students — especially the journalism and broadcasting students — talking to them about their career choices.

He encouraged them to stick with it, despite the upheaval in the news business. His advice: “Keep writing.”

Then he was off — back to the Olympics and the ski slopes.

See more photos from the event on UALR’s Facebook page.