When the Brat Pack Took Over College Park
40 Years After ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ Filmed on Frat Row, Alums Look Back
Scenes from "St. Elmo's Fire" filming at UMD in 1984. From left: Miguel Lopez '87 with a blonde Demi Moore; Howard Schacter ’87 in the white and yellow shirt with Rob Lowe; and Andrew McCarthy surrounded by Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters.
Moore photo courtesy of Miguel Lopez; Lowe photo by David Weissman ’86; McCarthy photo courtesy of Lisa Claps Usher ’86
Dig out those acid wash jeans, blast some synth-pop and plug in your crimper—it’s time for a little trip back to the 1980s. Decades before Demi Moore staged an Oscar-nominated comeback and Rob Lowe (literally!) ditched his mullet to become a network TV staple, the Brat Pack stars were in College Park, strolling by the University of Maryland’s classic red brick and white-columned buildings.
“St. Elmo’s Fire,” the hit coming-of-age movie released 40 years ago on Saturday, also starred Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andie MacDowell and Mare Winningham. It followed the post-graduation exploits of recent Georgetown University graduates—but the school wouldn’t let them film there.
Lisa Claps Usher ’86 snapped a photo of the iconic cap and gown scene being filmed on Fraternity Row.
Instead, the cast and crew took over Fraternity Row for two days and recruited students as extras. UMD made the final cut in three scenes: the iconic opening shot of the full cast in graduation caps and gowns, a football scene on the field in the horseshoe and a chat between Lowe’s character and his wife with Memorial Chapel visible in the background.
“It was definitely a fun little highlight of college, that’s for sure,” said Howard Schacter ’87. “Every year or two it seems to pop up in some sort of UMD Facebook group, and whenever I run into anybody from my college days, they bring it up.”
As rumors abound of a sequel, Terps recount their favorite memories:
Jay Hergenroeder ’86
About 50 UMD fraternity brothers were hired as extras on set after discussions with their governing council. Wearing gray sweatpants and a blue hoodie—they had been told to come in “non-flashy” clothes— Hergenroeder was plucked by the director out of a group of extras to greet Lowe as his character, “Billy,” entered his old frat house. “Little did I know until the film came out that I would be on scene next to the biggest star of the movie! At the sold-out initial screening of the film at UMD’s Hoff Theater, my real-life brother Rich, stood up in the back and yelled at the top of his lungs, “There’s Birdog!” my family nickname.”
The cast members were nice, he recalls, especially Estevez, but Moore made the most unforgettable impression when she caught one of Hergenroeder’s fraternity brothers staring from the roof of their house: “She then proceeded to moon him!”
Howard Schacter, left, with Rob Lowe. (Photo by David Weissman ’86)
Howard Schacter ’87
“In the football scene, it begins with me standing next to Rob Lowe with a film crane above us. As the crane goes up in the air, you see us run away from the camera. Then someone gets tackled and then you see us run back through the frame,” he said. The scene required over 30 takes, which gave him lots of time to chat with Lowe about his views on the many female students who’d gathered to watch (verdict: “If that’s the hottest, I’ve got to go back to L.A.”).
Schacter was a member of Phi Sigma Delta at 14 Fraternity Row, which opened its doors to production. “One of my fraternity brothers went into a shower and realized he was next to Andrew McCarthy!”
Sony later invited him and the other extras to New York for a special screening. “I ended up doing a lot of work with celebrities over the course of my career (like Venus Williams and Sarah Jessica Parker) but that kick-started it,” said Schacter, a communications executive.
Robin Manougian ’87
“I was at dance team practice across the street with the Mighty Sound of Maryland,” Manougian said. “I remember someone from production coming over and saying, ‘Can you guys not play right now?’ It was kind of funny. We definitely had a front-row seat.”
Since Maryland basketball “was huge back then,” she and her friends held out hope that the filmmakers would change the setting. In the end, “we were a little bummed. They’re filming here, why did they graduate from Georgetown?” But that didn’t stop them from watching the movie in theaters three times.
Miguel Lopez, right, with Demi Moore.
Miguel Lopez ’87
Living at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house in the fall of 1984, “one afternoon, I stepped outside wearing a golf hat, bright striped golf shirt, and classic 80s Jams shorts,” said Lopez. “Not the best look.”
“A group had just taken a photo with Demi Moore, and my friend Rene from Kappa Delta sorority, who had a camera, told me, ‘Go take a picture with her.’ It’s a fun (and very embarrassing) photo I’ve kept all these years. Those were unforgettable times at UMD.”
Roberta Offenhutter Lasky ’88
In a break between classes, Lasky headed down to see some of her favorite stars: Moore from “General Hospital” and Lowe from “The Outsiders.”
“There was a trailer and some other students and women hanging out. He popped out and said hi, wearing the red tie. It was fun!” she said. “He was just cute and we were the lucky ones who got to see them at our school.”
Clockwise from top left: Kristi Baker ’87, Andrew McCarthy, Jana Ifkovitz Rizzo ’84, Lisa Claps Usher ’86, Kelly Brady, Marlene Sadowsky Aisenberg ’86
Lisa Claps Usher ’86
“The one day I skipped class ended up being unforgettable—'St. Elmo’s Fire’ was filming on campus, and I couldn’t resist watching it all unfold,” said Usher, who lived at No. 8 Fraternity Row at the Kappa Alpha Theta house and always gets nostalgic when she hears that theme song. “Seeing the Brat Pack in person made it feel like Hollywood had come to our doorstep. Totally worth it!”
Though she recalls being “really picky” about how many photos she would take with her film camera, she couldn’t resist the chance to gather her sorority sisters for a picture with Andrew McCarthy while he was on a little break from filming, and also got a few behind-the-scenes shots that she faithfully compiled in a college scrapbook.
Eric M. Platt ’85
Platt was in the right place at the right time as crew members knocked on doors around the Fraternity Row for extras. “We got paid almost $100 a day, which was big money back then—good money for the ’Vous,” he said. “During the actors’ lunch break, I eyed Demi Moore struggling to open a bottle of cranberry juice. I went over and gave the damsel in distress a little help. My brush with fame!”
Though they filmed on hot days, producers wanted the extras in fall sweaters and even brought in fans to blow leaves around, he recalled. His job was to walk in the background of one of the scenes, and production would say, “You’ve got to walk faster! You’ve got to walk with more confidence!” In the end, he was part of a minor continuity error: If you catch a student in an argyle sweater and a red backpack walking in two different directions in the same scene, that’s Platt.
Rob Lowe taking a break from filming on Fraternity Row. (Photo by Lisa Claps Usher '86)
Robin Verity ‘86
“There was just such a huge buzz everywhere about it. The actors weren’t super famous yet, but it was a big movie being filmed, so it was super cool,” said Verity, who joined the throngs of students watching the filming. “I made my kids watch it with me a year ago. I was like, ‘That’s Frat Row! I did keg stands over there!’ It was just a really, really fun time.”
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