Editing Burwash Hall (section)

==Upper Houses==
Adjoined to Burwash Dining Hall and completed in 1913, the upper houses were originally known as the ''Men's Residences.'' The four houses are: '''North House''', '''Middle House''', '''Gate House''', and '''South House'''. The upper houses were gutted and renovated in 1995.

Each Upper House consists of three floors.  The lower floor contains a [[common room]] equipped with kitchen facilities, couches and a television.  The upper floors each have their own kitchen and dining area. All houses have a very high bathroom ratio, with many single-use washrooms and a communal washroom on each floor. Upper Houses are divided between double rooms and singles, with about sixty percent of the population being in doubles. Unlike the Lower Houses, the hallways of each Upper House are connected, a feature that was added in the 1995 renovations.

There is typically an upper-year Residence Don for each of the Upper Houses. This has been the case since the building's construction in 1913, when specific rooms were included for Dons. The original location of these rooms has since changed with recent renovations.

=== North House ===
At the corner of Burwash Dining Hall and the Upper Houses lies North House. The emblem of North House is an [[oil lamp]], originally used to represent Victoria's Faculty of Theology, established in 1871. North has an extended hallway and larger common room than the other Upper Houses due to its position on the corner of the building.

=== Middle House ===
The largest of the Upper Houses due to its incorporation of two battlements which divide North and Gate House, Middle House is the centre of the Upper Houses. The [[owl]] is the emblem of Middle House, sourced from the Victoria College coat of arms, and originally used to represent the Faculty of Arts. The Don's room in Middle House was originally the room reserved for the Dean of Men at Victoria, fit with a fireplace and seating area.

===Gate House===
[[Image:Gate House.jpg|thumb|Gate House viewed from the Vic Quad.]]
'''Gate House''' is one of the four Upper Houses of the Burwash Hall residence. Until 2007, when Victoria administration made it co-ed, Gate House was one of the last remaining all-male residence building in the University of Toronto.<ref name="thestar2007">{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Bill |date=2007-12-19 |title=Party's over at U of T residence |url=https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/286958 |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=2007-12-19}}</ref> The Gate House emblem is the Phoenix, visible in the bottom-right corner of the Victoria College insignia.

Gate House, with the rest of Upper Burwash, opened in 1913 and has held students every year since then except 1995, when it was renovated.<ref>{{cite news |last=Houghton |first=Sarah |date=2003-03-12 |title=One Hundred Years of Architecture |newspaper=The Strand |url=http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/about/history/One_Hundred_Years_of_Architecture.htm |access-date=2007-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525051149/http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/about/history/One_Hundred_Years_of_Architecture.htm |archive-date=2007-05-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As an all-male residence from 1913 to 2007 it held a number of unique traditions. For 20 years Gate House hosted an annual party called Novemberfest in the Burwash dining hall.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tsang |first=Sharon |date=2002-12-04 |title='Student aspect' of Vic liquor license suspended |newspaper=The Strand |url=http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2002/12/04/News/student.Aspect.Of.Vic.Liquor.License.Suspended-337730.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062405/http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2002/12/04/News/student.Aspect.Of.Vic.Liquor.License.Suspended-337730.shtml |archive-date=2007-09-28 |access-date=2007-06-05}}</ref> The Victoria Dean of Students cancelled Novemberfest in 2003, when police discovered widespread underage drinking and over 800 people in the dining hall, in violation of the fire code.<ref>{{cite news |last=Salonen |first=Rachel |date=2002-01-22 |title='Student pub taken out of students' hands |url=http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2003/01/22/News/Student.Pub.Taken.Out.Of.Students.Hands-350656.shtml |newspaper=The Strand |access-date=2007-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062423/http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2003/01/22/News/Student.Pub.Taken.Out.Of.Students.Hands-350656.shtml |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> Another Gate House tradition that no longer occurs is the "stirring the chicken," a dinner and keg party where house members cook chicken fajitas for hundreds of guests. Until 2007, Gate House held secretive first-year initiation ceremonies called Traditionals, which involved writing slogans on campus buildings in chalk, singing songs to the all-women's residence (who would then sing back to them), and leading first-years around the house blindfolded.<ref>{{cite web|author=Bao, Jane |date=2007-01-07 |title='Boy's club dismembered |publisher=The Varsity |url=http://www.thevarsity.ca/article/1417 |access-date=2007-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119102205/http://www.thevarsity.ca/article/1417 |archive-date=19 January 2008 }}</ref> Since Novemberfest, Gate House continued to have conflict with the Administration. In 2004 the Dean evicted three Gate House residents for allegedly "hog-tying" a first-year student.<ref>{{cite news |last=Doukas |first=Alex |date=2004-03-17 |title='Three students booted from res |url=http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2004/03/17/News/Three.Students.Booted.From.Res-637000.shtml |newspaper=The Strand |access-date=2007-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062449/http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2004/03/17/News/Three.Students.Booted.From.Res-637000.shtml |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> In 2007 President Paul W. Gooch wrote that Gate House undertook an "escalating series of actions" that were "defiant" and "disparaging of women", in response to Gate members constructing a 2.5-metre snow penis and placing a cooked pig's head in an Annesley bathroom.<ref name="reuters2007">{{cite web |author=Sibonney, Claire |date=2007-12-19 |title=University of Toronto's Animal House laid to rest |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1960484520071219?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0}}</ref> As punishment, during the fall exam period Gooch evicted two residents and relocated the remainder of Gate House to other places in the residence system, banned all current Gate House students from entering the building in 2008.<ref name="thestar2007" /> Since this decision Gate House has become a co-ed residence identical to the other Upper Burwash houses. Notable residents of Gate House include  [[Lester B. Pearson]], former Prime Minister of Canada, and [[Simon Pulsifer]], who ''Time'' magazine nicknamed "The Duke of Data" for his contributions to Wikipedia.<ref>
{{cite news
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570732,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070210120348/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1570732%2C00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = February 10, 2007
| title = Simon Pulsifer: The Duke of Data
| access-date = 2006-12-17
| last = Grossman
| first = Lev
| date = 16 December 2006
| work = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

During its 93 years as a men's residence, Gate House developed a distinct character and reputation. These antics included pranks, toga parties, streaking, caroling to other residences, hazing rituals, "beer bashes" and "incessant pounding" on the Gate House table in the dining hall.<ref name="thestar2007"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Richards |first=Jason |date=2004-09-18 |title='Gate House Traditionals Exposed |url=http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2002/09/18/Stranded/Gate-House.Traditionals.Exposed-290475.shtml |newspaper=The Strand |access-date=2007-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062414/http://media.www.thestrand.ca/media/storage/paper404/news/2002/09/18/Stranded/Gate-House.Traditionals.Exposed-290475.shtml |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> Paul Gooch wrote that these traditions gave Gate House an "ethos" that contradicted his vision of residence life.<ref name="thestar2007"/>

The all-male Gate House was known as a social centre and spirited, tight-knit community. According to Grayson Lee, who created the snow penis sculpture in 2007, most of its residents were "heartbroken" to leave.<ref name="reuters2007"/> Former Gate House President Dave Ruhl commented that "the Gate House camaraderie is unique" and that living there was "one of the most important parts of the university experience" for many.<ref name="thestar2007"/>

The Reuters news agency nicknamed Gate House "U of T's Animal House" because Donald Sutherland's memories of its parties are said to have influenced the script of the 1978 movie.<ref name="reuters2007"/> The Toronto Star described Gooch's decision to put an end to its traditions, activities and distinguishing characteristics as "neutering Animal House."<ref name="thestar2007" />

Gate House has three floors which house 28 students, as well as a don and the Victoria College Residence Life Co-ordinator. Above the gate there is a tower that rises three stories higher and has a turret-style roof.

The '''first floor''' has one double room and one bathroom available to students. About half of the floor is taken up by the apartment of the Residence Life Coordinator. Lastly, on the first floor there is a house common room with a kitchen and two couches.[http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/Assets/Victoria/assets/Upper_Burwash_1st_Floor_10571_579514.jpg?method=1]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}  The '''second floor''' has three double rooms and seven single rooms. It has three single washrooms and one larger communal one, as well as its own kitchen. This floor is home to the residence don, who has a larger room with a private washroom. The '''third floor''' is identical to the second except that in place of the don's room there are two single rooms.[http://www.vicu.utoronto.ca/Assets/Victoria/assets/Upper_Burwash_2nd_and_3rd_Floor_10570_797531.jpg?method=1]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}

=== South House ===
Adjoining St. Mary's Arch and Lower Houses, South House is the furthest Upper House from Burwash Dining Hall. The emblem of the house is a [[sphinx]], which was originally used to represent Victoria's Faculty of Law, established in 1860.