diff --git a/lms/static/coffee/src/discussion/discussion_router.coffee b/lms/static/coffee/src/discussion/discussion_router.coffee
index 4dc599898a..824ef896fb 100644
--- a/lms/static/coffee/src/discussion/discussion_router.coffee
+++ b/lms/static/coffee/src/discussion/discussion_router.coffee
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class @DiscussionRouter extends Backbone.Router
 
   allThreads: ->
     # TODO: Do something reasonable here
-    $(".discussion-column").html("No thread selected.")
+    # $(".discussion-column").html($('#blank-slate-template').html())
 
   setActiveThread: =>
     if @thread
diff --git a/lms/static/sass/_discussion.scss b/lms/static/sass/_discussion.scss
index a00639792e..3c0ba1fee0 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/_discussion.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/_discussion.scss
@@ -1038,9 +1038,17 @@ body.discussion {
     }
   }
 
+  .blank-slate h1 {
+    margin-top: 195px;
+    text-align: center;
+    color: #ccc;
+  }
+
+  .blank-slate,
   .discussion-article {
     position: relative;
     padding: 40px;
+    min-height: 468px;
 
     h1 {
       margin-bottom: 10px;
diff --git a/lms/templates/discussion/_underscore_templates.html b/lms/templates/discussion/_underscore_templates.html
index 1a5fe6158d..3d86c92796 100644
--- a/lms/templates/discussion/_underscore_templates.html
+++ b/lms/templates/discussion/_underscore_templates.html
@@ -60,4 +60,4 @@
 
 <script type="text/template" id="thread-list-item-template">
     <a href="${'<%- id %>'}" data-id="${'<%- id %>'}"><span class="title">${"<%- title %>"}</span> <span class="comments-count">${"<%- comments_count %>"}</span><span class="votes-count">+${"<%- votes['up_count'] %>"}</span></a>
-</script>
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lms/templates/discussion/index.html b/lms/templates/discussion/index.html
index 48ed88fdfb..545b218e54 100644
--- a/lms/templates/discussion/index.html
+++ b/lms/templates/discussion/index.html
@@ -26,7 +26,12 @@
 <section class="discussion container" id="discussion-container" data-course-id="${course_id}" data-user-info="${user_info}" data-threads="${threads}">
     <div class="discussion-body">
         <div class="sidebar"></div>
-        <div class="discussion-column"></div>
+        <div class="discussion-column">
+        	<div class="blank-slate">
+	        	<h1>${course.title} discussion forum</h1>
+
+        	</div>
+        </div>
     </div>
 </section>