Talk:Phi Delta Theta/GA1

GA Reassessment

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As part of the WikiProject Good Articles, we're doing Sweeps to determine if the article should remain a Good article. I believe the article currently meets the majority of the criteria and should remain listed as a GA. However, in reviewing the article against the criteria, I have found there are some issues that need to be addressed, listed below. I've gone through the article and made various changes, please look them over. Other things require attention from people more familiar with the topic matter. Feel free to ask any questions, and many thanks for all the hard work that has gone into this article thus far. –Whitehorse1 00:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Prose

• "Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ or PDT) is an international fraternity founded in 1848 and headquartered at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio." For people unfamiliar with the group, having its headquarters at a university, as opposed to just its alpha chapter, will seem unusual. Can this be explained more? The following 3 article sentences also variously refer to a grand chapter, ghq, or location.
  • "It was also during the first convention where the chapter at Miami University was designated as the Grand Chapter whose duties were to oversee the overall fraternity operations."
  • "On December 15, 1945, the groundbreaking of the present-day General Headquarters building took place. One of the features of the headquarters was a permanent war memorial honoring all Phis who lost their lives during WWII and previous wars."
  • "In 1973, the fraternity celebrated its 125th anniversary. The special occasion was marked by the construction of the University gates at Miami University. To date, there are nine buildings on the campus that were either constructed by Phi Delta Theta or named after members."

• "During the early meetings, the Founders wrote The Bond of Phi Delta Theta ... and so far as is known, it is believed to be the only document of any fraternity of such a character." What does the last part mean?
• The History section begins with a whole paragraph before "Phi Delta Theta" is mentioned. Can some framing text be added to make clear it's discussing events giving rise to the fraternity?
• "Phi Delta Theta also took an unusual step, unique among all fraternities, of splitting into two chapters at both Miami and Centre College, so their meetings would be smaller and attract less attention." Was this a second ('beta') chapter?

• Phis is used throughout. Is this colloquial more commonly used than Phi Delts?

• "For a brief period a resolution was set forth to allow chapters to initiate women. ... Although it was met with strong opposition, the issue would not be settled for several years." Wording here seems awkward e.g. 'Although'.

• "In the 1870s alone, 34 new chapters were established, but this was also a period of uncertainty because of the anti-fraternity sentiment held by many faculty in schools where Phi Delta Theta had chapters." Something of a jargon issue in that this assumes specialised knowledge about what/why anti-fraternity sentiment is/was at this time.

• "During the turbulent 1960s, Phi Delta Theta along with other social fraternities dealt with strong anti-fraternity sentiment from people who saw the Greek lettered communities as old world established institutions." I've slightly tweaked this. Please take a look to see if there're any additional improvements you can make.

• "Despite an overall decline in fraternity membership during the late 1960s, Phi Delta Theta continued to expand through a carefully controlled process known as "colonization." Is this a stage before full chapter status?

• Severe proseline in this part of the "Second half of the 20th century" section.

• " 1969 was 'an eventful year' for the fraternity as Neil Armstrong, a graduate from the Purdue University chapter, became the first man to walk on the moon." That's 1 event; this may need rewording or expanding.

• "As war raged in Vietnam, Phis again served in the armed forces. With the emergence of new technology, a significant percentage opted to become fighter pilots." Second sentence seems randomly thrown in. The next few paragraphs don't mention pilots.

• "An important change was made during the 1970s that gave more autonomy to chapters in terms of membership selection. An amendment was passed wherein the unanimous vote rule to allow a college man to become a pledge was changed to allow individual chapters to decide on their own which method best suited their respective chapters." This is a long run-on sentence. Simplifying and breaking up the sentencing would improve its clarity.
  • As a starting point how about "The fraternity made a key change during the 1970s that gave more autonomy to chapters in membership selection. An amendment was passed wherein the unanimous vote rule to allow a college man to become a pledge was changed, to allow individual chapters to decide on the method best suited to their respective chapters."?

Prose in later sections

I've split this into a new subsection because in later parts of the article slanted wording, passive voice, and 'corporate-style' speech noticeably increase. Some bulleted examples have additional comments. General issues, like those above, within this part of the article are also listed here.

• "The 1980s saw the fraternity deal with issues such as hazing, rising insurance costs, and maintenance of individual chapter operations. The unofficial theme of the 1980 convention was "Eliminate Hazing." The decade was marked by an increase of lawsuits dealing with hazing and alcohol abuse among many fraternities. To deal with this issue, Phi Delta Theta instituted a comprehensive insurance policy to protect its chapters." This is presumably something most fraternities do.

• "An important leadership change occurred in the beginning of the 1990s when Robert Biggs became the fourth executive vice president of the fraternity after Robert Miller stepped down." Important to whom?

• "The most important policy to be implemented by the fraternity during the decade was the decision made in 1997 to have all chapter facilities alcohol free by 2000.[26] It was an initiative that was strongly pursued by the 1996–98 General Council. The policy was in response to the growing insurance claims against the fraternity, 53% of which were alcohol related, and a return to the core values of the organization.[27]"

• "All powers of the fraternity, both legislative and supreme, rests within the General Convention." This was jarring; I don't know if it's the 's' on power or rest perhaps.

• "The convention is held in various cities across North America. It is also during the convention where the General Council is elected." Awkward wording in the 2nd sentence.

• "The General Headquarters (GHQ) is responsible for daily fraternity operations. Among its many duties, GHQ collects dues, distributes supplies, and tries to maintain up-to-date information about all its members. Unlike other entities within the fraternity, the staff of GHQ are paid for their services." I've tweaked this. Please take a look and make any additional improvements necessary.

• "Although Phi Delta Theta is no longer part of the North American Interfraternity Conference, the fraternity was recognized by the conference for the 'Best Use of a Foundation Grant for its support of The Accolade." Please consider if this is worth including.

• "The Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI) is an annual event held at the Fraternity's headquarters during the summer where newly initiated undergraduates are given instruction in leadership classes, as well as participating in programs that help to improve their respective chapters.[31] It is attended by selected undergraduates from every chapter. It is mainly geared toward newly initiated members. The Institute was established after the Leadership College was dissolved." This is very repetitive.

• "Phi Delta Theta, along with other Greek organizations, employ Leadership Consultants (LCs) to assist with undergraduate development." Already mentioned this, discussing the 1980s.

• "The LCs, formerly known as Traveling Secretaries and Chapter Consultants, help undergraduate chapters identify major problems and challenges. Then, along with chapter leaders, alumni advisors, and university officials, they develop plans and programs for solving them. LCs serve as liaison between the General Fraternity/GHQ and the chapters. The LCs also work to guide chapter members to realize leadership and achieve, more fully, the ideals, objectives, and values of the fraternity." A lot of corp-speak e.g. realizing and achieving ideals.

• "The Palladium was the private magazine specifically for members of Phi Delta Theta. ... The first issue was printed in 1894 and the last issue was released in the mid-1960s." Any particular reason why it stopped?

• "The first three pledge manuals of the fraternity were written by Walter B. Palmer. The idea for the manual was conceived by J. Marshall Mayer, City College of New York 1884 who at the time..." The words "City College of New York 1884" are seemingly-randomly italicized. I hadn't changed it in case this is for a particular reason?

• "The first pledge manual was printed in 1886 and contained only 56 pages. Since few copies were published and it is the first membership manual of any fraternity, it is regarded as one of the most rare and valuable books of its kind." The 2nd sentence raises an eyebrow.

• (Role in the fraternity world section) "Phi Delta Theta has played a major role in the fraternity movement." Glib statement.

• "Chiefly among these was being a founding member of the North American Interfraternity Conference, which was established in 1910 (an organization that they subsequently left in 2002), and leading the initiative to ban alcohol from Phi Delt houses." Please copyedit.

• "Throughout their history, the fraternity became a pioneer in..." Repeatedly?

• "as well as having individual members shape the formation of similar women's organizations." Huh? How?

• "The fraternity has also been the first fraternity to establish itself on over 25 campuses." Awkward use of tenses ... is it still?

• Historical ties with fraternities section:
  • (Phi Kappa Tau) "The dorm room in Old North Hall (now Elliott Hall) in which Phi Delta Theta was founded was later home to Phi Kappa Tau founders William H. Shideler and Clinton D. Boyd." This doesn't seem much of a link. I would leave it out.
  • (W. W. W. Fraternity, and Delta Tau Delta) "Two chapters of W. W. W. Fraternity (also known as Rainbow Fraternity) refused to join with other chapters of their fraternity in merging with Delta Tau Delta in 1885. Instead, the University of Texas chapter merged with the Phi Delt chapter there, and the Southwestern University chapter became a new chapter of Phi Delta Theta." Again, tangential. The political climate bearing on GLOs at that time meant a great many chapters merged with other national groups. Pretty incidental.
  • "Phi Delta Theta has the distinction of having close connections with two sororities: Delta Gamma and Delta Zeta. George Banta Sr., a Phi Delt from Franklin-Indiana, was instrumental in expanding the Delta Gamma sorority. For his efforts, he was the only man ever initiated into Delta Gamma. Banta would later perform initiation ceremonies for new members of the sorority..." -- See, now that's a link. :)
    • "Dr. Benton aided in the preparation of a ritual, badge, and colors.[44] He was a great assistance to Delta Zeta and at one point chased down a man who stole the newly formed ritual of the sorority." Teeny bit trivial in the 2nd part, but fine to stay in my view.

• "Famous firsts" I'm not confident these add much to the article.

• "The [dry] policy has since been adopted by other fraternities including Theta Chi and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI).[48]" Does that (NYT) reference back up the implied effect?
• "However, unlike Phi Gamma Delta and Theta Chi, Phi Delta Theta has no exemption policy allowing chapters that meet certain standards, such as a cumulative GPA higher than 3.0, to have alcohol in the chapter house." Bit snipey.

• "Concern and criticism: When Phi Delta Theta announced the inception of an alcohol free housing policy, the announcement was met both by hope and skepticism." Why not just say it got a mixed reaction?

• "Perhaps the most telling area is in membership, where Phi Delta Theta showed an increase of new members." I'll be honest here, because reviews are a place for honesty. The phrasing here, especially, set alarm bells ringing. The concern is possible plagiarism. Incidentally this is ref'd to a now-dead link. (another example was "...due principally to the efforts of Palmer and Banta. The two were given the title “Second Founders” for their work.")

• "Membership to Phi Delta Theta is open to all qualified men without concern for race, religion, or ethnicity." The 'without concern for ' part might benefit from rephrasing.

• "Initial membership to the fraternity is contingent upon receiving an invitation to an interested individual by members of an active chapter." Ouch, this is very wordy.

• "The pledge period is a time where the prospective member learns about the fraternity history, structure, traditions, organization as well as social etiquette." May benefit from copyediting.

• "Members of Phi Delta Theta have held every major political position in the United States." & "Members have won every major award in entertainment" My reaction was: every? really? I suppose congressmen, senators, governors, serving on the Supreme Court, president, vice-president, ditto Pulitzer, Oscar, and Emmy Award may qualify; it's a lofty claim. Thoughts?
• "Lou Gehrig Memorial Award – Presented to the Major League Baseball player best exemplifying the giving characteristic of Lou Gehrig both on and off the field." The later wording has a somewhat 'light' feel.

• "Throughout the years, many prominent members have kept a vested interest in the events and operations of Phi Delta Theta. President Harrison, for example, participated in three Phi Delt banquets during his presidency while Medal of Honor recipient General Frederick Funston was the guest speaker at certain chapter installations." I don't know really if this qualifies as a vested interest. Also, are they honoraries?

• "To be granted a charter, a colony must complete certain requirements set forth by the General Council. Chief among these are recruiting a certain amount members and achieving a respectable cumulative grade point average among its members." Please copyedit.

• "Currently, Phi Delta Theta has over 100 active alumni clubs. Although all the clubs are currently in North America, alumni clubs have been found all over the world throughout its history. At one point, there were over 165 alumni chapters." Clubs or chapters or both? Also, pronoun subject-verb agreement issue: "alumni clubs have been found all over the world throughout its history".

• "The most Phis to ever assemble on foreign land for an alumni club meeting, before the fraternity became international in 1902, was in Manila, Philippines when 30 Phis gathered in 1899." Please consider if this is worth including.

Other items

• Please check if any of the External links need pruning.
• The article sometimes slips into passive voice. I've made some changes, and may've pointed out instances above. Changing some of this to active voice would improve the impact and clarity of the writing.
• Consider moving the References section to after the Footnotes section, per WP:LAYOUT.
• The article is in the hidden maintenance category "Articles with dead external links from April 2009". Please check using links this tool.

The article is broadly strong; as it's a long article though, inevitably greater amounts of items come into play; as you can see. Fortunately these are often small things. Articles placed on normally placed on hold for up to 7 days. If the article is actively being worked on, I can be flexible about the amount of time. If there is no activity within, say, 3 days, the article may be delisted. Thank you, and please feel free to ask about anything you're unsure of. –Whitehorse1 00:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Since no significant improvements have been made to the article, I will now delist it. –Whitehorse1 22:43, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.