Talk:Activism at Ohio Wesleyan University

Activism at Ohio Wesleyan University was one of the good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones Date Process Result December 27, 2006 Good article reassessment Delisted February 13, 2007 Good article nominee Not listed October 6, 2007 Peer review Reviewed A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on December 12, 2006. The text of the entry was: Did you know ...that there has been a long history of activism at Ohio Wesleyan University (protest pictured), endorsed by the inaugural address of its first president? Current status: Delisted good article

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When I first read the paragraph about

• • Great suggestions! I included them! Thanks for the nice words regarding the writing of the article. LaSaltarella 04:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

• Elizabeth Boynton Harbert needs a tie-in as well, please? --Silverhand 22:02, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • I added it. Thank you, Silverhand! LaSaltarella 04:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

• • I actually have some questions about both of their inclusions here. Do I think they are notable and activist from OWU? Yes. Branch Rickey is one of the most notable Almn's the school ever had. But the page is titled "Activism at Ohio Wesleyan Univeristy." Perhaps making another section showing that activism of students continues on beyond OWU? I think this article would do a lot better if it was broken down into sections anyway, why not one highlighting activist alumnis?
    • I made most of the changes that you suggest. LaSaltarella 04:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
      • I noticed that Branch Rickey is states as being class of 1903 and 1904. Could someone fix this please? Cheers Cricketgirl 13:42, 15 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Talk:Ohio_Wesleyan_University#Added_POV_Section for the dispute

• Great! This was addressed. :) LaSaltarella 04:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Very well-referenced and well-laid-out. Anchoress 00:26, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

With the assertion by Anchoress that the article is well layed out, as it has no lead, or any sectional headings at all for that matter. Therefore, I have filed a

Wait a minute, Anchoress didn't pass the article, User:Kenyon09 did, without actually reviewing it, maybe I should of just tried to delist it after a few hours after all.... Homestarmy 17:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK, The references here were not nearly as bad as they were on the OWU main page, but they still need some attention---particularly around the Campus Crusade for Christ issue. I personally do not like CCC, but unless you can provide better resources, then I question the inclusion in the section. I do not believe this event, which appears to be isolated to the campus only, is notable. {That doesn't mean that it doesn't matter to current students, but is it encyclopedic? Will it be an issue people care about 10-20 years down the road? I don't think so---I cannot see it being more notable than the bonfires in 90 or 91.) The article over is improving, but the article still has a fair amount of POV... and it has improved since being nominated for GAR.

• "[4]^ Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia. University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved on 2005-10-15." This link does not mention Thomson or Ohio.
  • Fixed. LaSaltarella 02:15, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• "[5] ^ The Methodist Movement Comes to America and Impacts Slavery. Reve' M. Pete. Retrieved on 2003-01-01." This is a personal website, therefore not a reliable one.
  • Thank you! I replaced it. LaSaltarella 04:21, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Branch Rickey doesn't belong in an article titled "Activism AT Ohio Welseyan University." He might be usable in a separate section discussing the legacy or continuing activism of OWU students. But he does not work as examples of activism at OWU.
• "[9]# ^ Mary King. Ohio Wesleyan University. Retrieved on 2006-12-07." Does not support the notion that Mary King worked with Martin Luther King or that she did so while a 'young student.' Nor does the reference mention the SNCC.
• "By February 1987, student political action had brought Ohio Wesleyan to pledge to fully divest holdings connected to South Africa. [16]" Are you sure about that date? I started school in the fall of 87 and the schools involvement with apartheid was a huge issue until my junior year. Apartheid and environmentalism were the two causes that stood out.
  • Double-checked and referenced. LaSaltarella 04:21, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• "[19]^ a b Local Groups. United for Peace and Justice. Retrieved on 2006-08-10." This is a list of local groups, but it doesn't mention anything about protest in front of the city hall.
  • It supports a different statement about the existence of the local chapter but I removed a section of the group due to POV concerns for undue emphasis. LaSaltarella 04:21, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• "[25]^ a b [OWU Read this Column]. The Transcript. Retrieved on 2006-12-12." This is an opinion paper article written 3 years after the incident. It is not a reliable source.
• "[26]^ a b Dear Editor. Kelly Horstman, The Transcript. Retrieved on 2006-12-12." This is an opinion page of letter's to the editor written three years BEFORE the issue in question.
• "[27] # ^ Colleges draw line on sidewalk chalk. CNN. Retrieved on 2006-12-03." This reference should be removed completely. It was originally there to support an allegation that chalking was against the rules. The article says the exact opposite of what was originally stated. The wording has since been changed but this link remains.
• "[23] # ^ McMurtrie, Beth. "Crusading for Christ, Amid Keg Parties and Secularism", Chronicle of Higher Education, May 18, 2005, p. A42." This article was written in 2001---not 2005. Thus it is impossible for it to discuss events that occured in 2003. Also, based upon the synopsis, this article does not support any of the allegations in this section. Balloonman 07:41, 17 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Bonfires of 90

It was my senior year at OWU. The people who were grandfathered in by the 21 year old drinking age were now over 21, so the only people old enough to drink (legally) were seniors. Shortly before fall exams, the campus announced a decision to become a dry campus! Needless to say, this idea was not well received. One of the fraternities (I believe it was FiJi) decided to have a protest party. The party was busted by Campus Security and 4 kegs were confiscated. The following night, some of the fraternity brothers staged a "jail break." They broke into Campus Security and broke the kegs out. An impromptu party broke out on the Hill that involved a small fire. This went on for two or three different nights. On Friday it was a huge event. The bonfire only had a radius of about 30 feet and flames going up 100+ feet into the air. Delaware police showed up, looked at the 400+ people gathered around the fire and left. The fire department showed up and left. Rumors started circulating that the National Guard had been called in to break up the group. In the mean time, fraternities were bringing couches, matresses, coke machines, benches, lamp posts, and basically anything not nailed down to feed the fire. One of my friends, who worked for the Transcript, had her camera and notebook thrown into the fire. At about 1:00 am a bunch of busses showed up, and everybody prepared to run convinced it was the national guard. It was a fraternity and soreity returning from an off campus event---and the fire got a second wind. All Rush activities were suspended the following semester and there was a threat of having all Greek activities kicked off campus. This event was absolutely huge among the students at OWU, we didn't want to become a dry campus, but I would be very surprised if anybody there now has even heard of this. And I suspect that in 10 years nobody will remember the adam affair... it may feel important today, but it isn't encyclopedic.Balloonman 08:06, 17 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

• See this discussion
• --
  Ling.Nut 00:01, 28 December 2006 (UTC)[reply
  ]

In the latest episode of the Alumni magazine (I forget what it is called) there was an article about how OWU won some prize for activism due to its response to Katrina. I don't remember the details and can't find my copy of the magazine, but thought it might be worth looking up... I bet you that you could probably find the magazine at the alumni office.Balloonman 05:33, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe this article can be rated as a Good Article. For one, the article appears to still have the POV issues which originally lead to its delisting. In addition, several of the references I checked don't back up what the article says. For example, this statement "During Ohio Wesleyan University Against the War on October 5 and November 17 2004, more than a hundred students held peace rallies in front of the Delaware city hall" is supposed to be supported by reference #35 at this link [1] but when I pulled up that link there was nothing about how many students protested. I noticed similar problems with other references. Until these POV and reference issues are fixed, I don't see how this can be a GA. Best, --Alabamaboy 20:26, 13 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Other reference issues include reference #2 for the statement "Activism was embedded in the very vision for founding of Ohio Wesleyan University and has played an important role in its history."[2] If you go to that link, there is nothing about activism playing an important role in the college's history.

Another problematic reference is #39, supporting the statement "In April 2002, about a hundred Ohio Wesleyan students gathered on

Middle East crisis, but also to denounce lending policies of the World Bank.[3]

However, if you go to that link you will find that only one Wesleyan student is mentioned and that, instead of "a hundred Ohio Wesleyan students" taking part in the protest "Several hundred protesters, hemmed in by police, rallied outside the World Bank." In short, the protesters were from a number of colleges.

I found this type of sloppy referencing throughout the article. If even a few statements are not supported by their reference, it will cause people to question all info in the article. --Alabamaboy 20:53, 13 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the feedback. I will double-check the references and if they support information exactly stated in the article. Thank you once again. LaSaltarella 00:13, 14 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I don't believe the article has had its POV issues corrected. For example, in the lead it states that "The founders' vision maintained that the university "is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles." However, the reference I can access on this at [4] states that "The Charter of Ohio Wesleyan University, granted in 1842, provides that 'the University is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles, accessible to all religious denominations, and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general.' The spirit of this statement has persisted through the years, so that today Ohio Wesleyan continues to live and thrive in an environment of intellectual freedom." In short, the University was founded on a vision of intellectual freedom, not activism. This is verified in other parts of the reference, which state that "Ohio Wesleyan judges itself successful when it has accomplished three objectives in its work with students:" 1) to impart knowledge; 2) to develop and enhance certain important capabilities of students (reading, writing and quantitative analysis); and 3) to place education in the context of values.

None of that states anything about activism. Yes, the intellectual freedom and values of the University provide fertile ground for activism, but to state that "Activism was embedded in the very vision for founding of Ohio Wesleyan University" is POV. The vision was intellectual freedom, education, and values (at least, that's what the provided reference states). Hope this helps.--Alabamaboy 14:33, 19 February 2007 (UTC

In 2003, both Ohio Wesleyan students and the administration severely criticized and acted against the

Hello, I've just done a quick copy edit of this article. I also removed a quotation which seemed to have a missing word, and also seemed to be out of context. Basically it seemed too weird to leave as-is, so I deleted it. If this is stepping on someone's toes, I'm very sorry! Jessicapierce 19:14, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In the "On racial equality again" section there is a sentence: "Following political activity by South Africa's blacks in 1985, the government declared a state of emergency.[32]" Which government? This needs clarification. Cricketgirl 13:49, 15 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]