When the Brat Pack Lit Up College Park

DIG OUT THOSE COLORFUL Jams shorts, 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 became a network TV staple, the Brat Pack stars were in College Park, strolling by UMD’s classic red brick and white-columned buildings.

“St. Elmo’s Fire,” the hit coming-of-age movie released in summer 1985, also starred Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson. It followed the exploits of recent Georgetown University graduates—but the school wouldn’t let them film there.

Instead, the cast and crew took over Fraternity Row for two days in Fall 1984 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 (above), 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.

As rumors abound of a sequel, Terps recount their favorite memories.

Hergenroeder was plucked by the director out of a group of extras to greet Lowe as his character entered his old frat house—a scene that got a raucous reception at the sold-out screening at Hoff Theater. 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!”

“I was at dance team practice across the street with the Mighty Sound of Maryland,” she says. “I remember someone from production coming over and saying, ‘Can you guys not play right now?’”

“We got paid almost $100 a day, which was big money back then—good money for the ’Vous,” he says. “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.”