When Eliot House was first opened, there was maid service in the rooms, tablecloths in the dining hall and waiters served students their meals from a menu.

This pristine image of wealthy young men downing cheri and porte wine has stuck with Eliot throughout numerous attempts by College administrators to break down house stereotypes.

While lacking the lavish amenities of the past, one former Eliot resident says that as recently as three years ago, the house still carried a vestige from its image as home to Harvard's snobbish elite.

"You walked into the dining hall and everyone was blond and they looked at you like 'what are you doing there,'" says Aaron M. Cheng '94.

But Richard G. Abramson '94 hastily adds that it is difficult to define Eliot's image by simply looking to its stereotype.

"It was really hype," Abramson says. "Our class was pretty diverse. We were a random class. The house had an effect on us--we were really proud to be part of Eliot."

Abramson says that while randomization will likely change the character of the house, Eliot's traditions may provide a foundation for house unity under the new system.

"It would be a real shame if [house pride] died out," Abramson says.

But current Eliot resident Julie H. Park '97, who is the co-chair of the house's annual charity skating show An Evening With Champions, says that Eliot's image has already undergone a significant transformation.

"I would say that from the people I've met, the traditional stereotype of being the final club elite is not accurate," says Park, adding that one of her roommates wanted to choose Eliot because of its "beautiful" architecture.

Nonetheless, long-standing traditions like An Evening With Champions may provide a rallying point for house spirit in the new era of randomization.

"A lot of people identify [An Evening With Champions] as being a very important part of the house," says Park, who is a Crimson editor. "It's very much a house activity."

In addition to the 27-year-old skating show, Eliot has a long tradition of housing public service activities. The House and Neighborhood Development program (HAND), for example, had its birth in Eliot.

At a recent house dinner, Helen M. Fernald, daughter of Eliot's first master, presented her father's rowing oars to the house.

Fernald says that when she was living in Eliot during the 1930s, the house was reasonably diverse, but it was never close-knit.