(No more) Toga: Gate House, inspiration for 'Animal House' movie, shut down

[Kythereia]

Obligatory link:

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - The University of Toronto’s last all-male residence, famed for inspiring the 1978 comedy “Animal House,” is going coed after years of “flagrant acts of defiance,” the president of its governing college said.

Gate House is notorious for its “frat-boy” traditions and stunts such as toga parties, streaking, hazing rituals and wild beer bashes. Dorm members recently placed a cooked pig’s head in a women’s washroom.

One of the ivy-covered stone buildings of the school’s Victoria University, Gate House, built in 1913, will accept new male and female residents next term.

“Continued behavior reasonably seen as disparaging and demeaning of women will not be tolerated and must be met with firm response on the part of the university,” said Victoria University President Paul Gooch in a statement, referring in part to a 2.5-metre (8-foot) penis fashioned out of snow in November.

(I belong to Vic and I had no idea that snow penis was around. Seriously.)

Nuts.

[ultrafilter]

Were they at least on double-secret probation at some point?

[squeegee]

Well, hell. It’s just not Christmas without a snow-penis.

[Random]

I dunno. A snow penis in their own front yard? As college pranks go, this one seems kind of mild. Juvenile and a bit crude, sure. Demeaning to women? I don’t get it. Would a snow vagina be better or worse?

[Sunspace]

They should just have said it was a herm. Isn’t the antiquities department nearby?

[ZebraShaSha]

That’s what you get when you replace the Dean’s tennis racquet with a rubber phallus.

[Dewey_Finn]

I thought that the movie Animal House was inspired by the experiences of one of the writers at Dartmouth College. (And that’s what the Wikipedia article says.)

[cochrane]

“Continued behavior reasonably seen as disparaging and demeaning of women will not be tolerated and must be met with firm response on the part of the university,” said Victoria University President Paul Gooch in a statement, referring in part to a 2.5-metre (8-foot) penis fashioned out of snow in November.

… … … Galloop, galloop, galloop, GALLOOP, GALLOOP

PENIS ENSUES!

GALLOOP, GALLOOP, galloop, galloop, galloop … … …

[Wendell_Wagner]

Not a single reference to Toronto in this Wikipedia entry:

Animal House

It claims that the film is inspired by fraternities at Dartmouth and, to be lesser degree, Washington University.

[CalMeacham]

The guys who wrote Animal House and the stories it was based on went to Dartmouth, and have repeatedly stated that they based it on their experiences at Dartmouth. Seems like the University of Toronto is claiming honors not due them.

[Sunrazor]

@CalMeacham

Seems like the University of Toronto is claiming honors not due them.

Phone call for Ward Churchill! Mr. Churchill?

[BMalion]

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

[Freddy_the_Pig]

Was it over when the Mexicans burned York? No! Nothing’s over until Gate House decides it’s over!

[CalMeacham]

Phone call for Ward Churchill! Mr. Churchill?

???

Okay, I’ve Googled Ward Churchill and STILL have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

[Mahna_Mahna]

@CalMeacham

The guys who wrote Animal House and the stories it was based on went to Dartmouth, and have repeatedly stated that they based it on their experiences at Dartmouth. Seems like the University of Toronto is claiming honors not due them.

Actor Donald Sutherland is a Gate House alum and it’s been claimed that at least part of his performance was inspired by his antics while studying at U of T.

It’s pretty much canon at Victoria College that Gate House is Animal House.

Mahna Mahna - VIC 0T0

[muldoonthief]

@Mahna Mahna

Actor Donald Sutherland is a Gate House alum and it’s been claimed that at least part of his performance was inspired by his antics while studying at U of T.

It’s pretty much canon at Victoria College that Gate House is Animal House.

Mahna Mahna - VIC 0T0

Come now. All Donald Sutherland did in the movie was admit that Milton was dull and share a joint with some students. Oh, and he banged Katy. You could cut out his entire role without impacting the movie.

[CalMeacham]

It’s pretty much canon at Victoria College that Gate House is Animal House.

Well, it might be canon there, but Chris Miller says otherwise, and he wrote the damned thing.
As far as Donald Sutherland, I didn’t know that, and it’s interesting. But he played the lEnglish Professor, and didn’t even have any scenes in Delta House.

[Wendell_Wagner]

Donald Sutherland had a small part as a professor in the film. It’s hard to see how any of his memories of Gate House could have influenced the depiction of Animal House in the movie. This may be a traditional legend at Victoria College, but it doesn’t seem to be true.

[Mahna_Mahna]

@Wendell Wagner

Donald Sutherland had a small part as a professor in the film. It’s hard to see how any of his memories of Gate House could have influenced the depiction of Animal House in the movie. This may be a traditional legend at Victoria College, but it doesn’t seem to be true.

In our defense, if you take that away from us, our next-best claims to fame are the fact that noted feminist author Margaret Atwood is an alum and that the womens-only dorm, Annesley Hall, was used as the set for the 70s classic horror flick Black Christmas.

Do you really blame us for trying to hang onto the Animal House cred under those circumstances?

[muldoonthief]

@Mahna Mahna

In our defense, if you take that away from us, our next-best claims to fame are the fact that noted feminist author Margaret Atwood is an alum and that the womens-only dorm, Annesley Hall, was used as the set for the 70s classic horror flick Black Christmas.

Do you really blame us for trying to hang onto the Animal House cred under those circumstances?

But, but, you’re Canadians trying to take credit for Animal House! We can’t let that pass! Don’t you have a library that’s sinking because the architect forgot about the weight of the books or somethink like that?