Talk:Georgetown University

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Former featured articleGeorgetown University is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on December 2, 2007.
On this day... Article milestones
DateProcessResult
May 17, 2007Good article nomineeNot listed
July 19, 2007Good article nomineeListed
August 9, 2007Peer reviewReviewed
September 4, 2007Featured article candidatePromoted
March 19, 2022Featured article reviewDemoted
On this day... Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on January 23, 2011, January 23, 2014, and January 23, 2024.
Current status: Former featured article

Issues with this FA[edit]

There are some issues with this article:

  • Unsourced content
  • Some sandwiching of images and tables
  • Dated content
  • It may also be overly dependent on primary sources, but I'm not sure.

Those are the major issues. There're some other things, like repetitive citations in the lead, but they aren't pressing. ~ HAL333 18:47, 30 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I pushed hard to get this to FA in 2007, and to keep it there for several years, but admit my involvement has tapered off over the last decade. I keep hoping another student, alum, or qualified editor will take up the project of keeping this article and subarticles up to date. I know Ergo Sum (talk · contribs) has done fantastic work on the president and Jesuit articles, and there may be some text and sources from those that overlaps and could help here. School articles will always have unsourced content, particularly with a student life section, but I'd say that's easier to remove without sacrificing the comprehensiveness of the article by-in-large. And primary sources are indeed an ongoing issue, many facts and figures have to come directly from branches of the school, but I think we'd rather have the info than not. When appropriate, it's fine to preface info as "According to the school..." to make it clear to readers it's a primary-sourced figure. I'd say the dated statement are in a way the most concerning to me, since they can kind of snowball when you realize how much of the article needs major prose rewrites because of the new data. I use a lot of Template:As of tags in the prose, so that can help identify facts tied to a date, just by searching {{As of in the edit window.-- Patrick, oѺ 13:04, 1 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Something that I have long had on the back burner is doing a proper WP:FAR for this article, since it's been well over a decade since it went through its FAC. Patrickneil did a fantastic job with this article the first time around and has maintained it diligently, so I very much hope you will contribute your input at FAR; I know I'd definitely rely on it. I just don't have the bandwidth to dedicate a lot of time to wiki right now, but I will have more in August. If the status quo for this article can remain until then, that would be appreciated. Ergo Sum 14:03, 1 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Postponing until next month sounds like a perfectly reasonable request to me. I do think it'd be nice to have an FAR, given how long it's been since the previous one and how much college articles change (they're not as stable as e.g. history articles). As WP:HED's roster of FAs dwindles, this article takes on more and more of a role as a showcase model, so it's important it be up to par. {{u|Sdkb}}talk 06:54, 22 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Ergo Sum and Patrickneil: Just following up, any updates on preferences for scheduling the FAR? {{u|Sdkb}}talk 22:04, 14 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I'm totally fine with primary sources from the university when that information can't be sourced from anywhere else. But I think there are many cases where secondary sources could replace these. For example, I would replace the Hoya source which describes the crucufix additions that "attracted national attention". If that change did indeed attract national attemtion, I'm sure the NYT or Wapo covered it. ~ HAL333 16:23, 2 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@HAL333, Sdkb, Patrickneil, ElCalle19, and Publius In The 21st Century: I am pinging you because you participated in the above discussion or made significant contributions to the article since Hal333 posted their notice. Have the above concerns been addressed, and does the article fulfill the FA criteria? If so, can you mark this as "Satisfactory" at WP:URFA/2020A? If not, are you interested in making improvements to the article, or should we prepare this for FAR? Z1720 (talk) 21:20, 6 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Z1720: It's funny you should post this just now, as I was literally in the middle of writing the FAR. Give me a few minutes and I'll have it up. Best, {{u|Sdkb}}talk 21:23, 6 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Greek life[edit]

@Brettoppenheimer: lists of Greek institutions are better placed on list pages, since their content relevance for an encyclopedia is marginal. Also, there is not enough reliable documentation about them. Most Wikipedia editors agree that rote listings of Greek institutions are not helpful if there is no sourcing from outside Georgetown's homepage or the fraternity's own circle. If you can prove that one or more of the Greek houses is significant, then pls do so, but for the most part, individual houses fall under WP:UNDUE. That is, they are not significant enough for an encyclopdia. Here is an example of the lists, which are more appropriate. -- Melchior2006 (talk) 10:13, 14 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

generic subcategory called "events"[edit]

I changed the section to traditions, that corresponds better to its content, and deleted: Georgetown University hosts notable speakers each year, largely because of the success of the Georgetown Lecture Fund and the Office of Communications. These are frequently important heads of state who visit Georgetown while in the capital, as well as scholars, authors, U.S. politicians, global business leaders, and religious figures. Many prominent alumni are known to frequent the main campus. The Office of the President hosts numerous symposia on religious topics, such as Nostra aetate, Pacem in terris, and the Building Bridges Seminar. All of this detail is very generic for higher ed and not notable. -- Melchior2006 (talk) 16:53, 17 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]