Welcome to English House 2002-2003


Welcome to Conner 2, a.k.a. English House. We're the first floor on the Conner side of Burton-Conner in MIT. We're home to 34 undergraduates and 2 graduate resident tutors.

The Origins of Our Name
You might be wondering how we got our name. Well, once upon a time, in the fall semester of 1974, before there was New House to house the language houses, there was Conner 2. Living on the floor were many students who spoke Russian as well as English. Only suites 211, 212, and 213 were officially part of Conner 2. The other half of the floor was called Russian House and was separated by a locked door from the rest of the floor. The floor tutor's suite was part of Russian House and occupied by the faculty director of Russian House. As is probably obvious, Russian House was established to give students an immersive environment in which to become fluent in the Russian language. Russian House moved out of Burton-Conner after the Spring 1975 semester.

The residents, in turn, began calling the floor English House. Inspired one night, they placed labels (in English) on many common objects on the floor. The Russian students had done this (in Russian) to assist them in learning conversational Russian quickly. They had left their labels all over and, rather than removing them (which didn't really work well since they were quite attached to the walls), they put new labels on top of them (now in English). Some people got so in the spirit that British flags began to appear decorating the walls.

In order that the descendants of those first "Founders" might never forget their history, Conner 2 became commonly known as English House, and to this day, the fire extinguisher between 23 and 24 suite still bears an original Russian label.

Well, now that you've been enlightened, feel free to explore other areas of this page to find out who lives here, some of our traditions, alum information, and some useful links.

Special thanks goes to Keith Blanton '78, English House "Founder," for clearing up the origins of English House.

 
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Last Updated November 15, 2004