diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/student/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/student/views.py
index a157da7bef..880eb9cd1f 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/student/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/student/views.py
@@ -191,7 +191,9 @@ def create_account(request, post_override=None):
     up.save()
 
     d={'name':post_vars['name'],
-       'key':r.activation_key}
+       'key':r.activation_key,
+       'course_title' : settings.COURSE_TITLE,
+       }
 
     subject = render_to_string('emails/activation_email_subject.txt',d)
         # Email subject *must not* contain newlines
@@ -199,7 +201,11 @@ def create_account(request, post_override=None):
     message = render_to_string('emails/activation_email.txt',d)
 
     try:
-        if not settings.GENERATE_RANDOM_USER_CREDENTIALS:
+        if settings.MITX_FEATURES.get('REROUTE_ACTIVATION_EMAIL',''):
+            dest_addr = settings.MITX_FEATURES['REROUTE_ACTIVATION_EMAIL']
+            message = "Activation for %s (%s): %s\n" % (u,u.email,up.name) + '-'*80 + '\n\n' + message
+            send_mail(subject, message, settings.DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL, [dest_addr], fail_silently=False)
+        elif not settings.GENERATE_RANDOM_USER_CREDENTIALS:
             res=u.email_user(subject, message, settings.DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL)
     except:
         log.exception(sys.exc_info())
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index 60834f9d91..06469a3839 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ MITX_FEATURES = {
     'SAMPLE' : False,
     'USE_DJANGO_PIPELINE' : True,
     'DISPLAY_HISTOGRAMS_TO_STAFF' : True,
+    'REROUTE_ACTIVATION_EMAIL' : False,		# nonempty string = address for all activation emails 
 }
 
 # Used for A/B testing
diff --git a/lms/envs/dev_edx4edx.py b/lms/envs/dev_edx4edx.py
index 2c4b2a53e7..741bdf9127 100644
--- a/lms/envs/dev_edx4edx.py
+++ b/lms/envs/dev_edx4edx.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ if 'eecs1' in socket.gethostname():
 # edx4edx content server
 
 EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
+MITX_FEATURES['REROUTE_ACTIVATION_EMAIL'] = 'ichuang@mit.edu'
 #EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django_ses.SESBackend'
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lms/envs/dev_ike.py b/lms/envs/dev_ike.py
index ad0380b3cc..df09ba2dc3 100644
--- a/lms/envs/dev_ike.py
+++ b/lms/envs/dev_ike.py
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ if 'eecs1' in socket.gethostname():
 # edx4edx content server
 
 EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
+MITX_FEATURES['REROUTE_ACTIVATION_EMAIL'] = 'ichuang@mit.edu'
+
 #EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django_ses.SESBackend'
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt b/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
index 2bd26c9fb7..4343da37f8 100644
--- a/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
+++ b/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Someone, hopefully you, signed up for an account for MITx's on-line
-offering of 6.002 using this email address. If it was you, and you'd
-like to activate and use your account, copy and paste this address
-into your web browser's address bar:
+offering of "${ course_title}" using this email address. If it was
+you, and you'd like to activate and use your account, copy and paste
+this address into your web browser's address bar:
 
 % if is_secure:
   https://${ site }/activate/${ key }