Talk:University of Virginia/GA1
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GA Reassessment
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As part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles' Project quality task force ("GA Sweeps"), all old good articles are being re-reviewed to ensure that they meet current good article criteria (as detailed at WP:WIAGA.) I have determined that this article needs work to meet current criteria, outlined below:
- There are a lot of peacock phrases and phrasings that suggest this article needs to be realigned to meet WP:NPOV requirements. In particular, there is a lot of unsourced fluff in the lead that needs to be sourced in the lead, or (preferably) should go. Ex: "Notably the University has, by far, the highest African American graduation rate of all public universities in the United States"; "Student life is unique among public universities in that historical secret societies such as Seven, IMP, and Z are very active;" (also what makes these societies worth singling out in the general overview that is or should be the lead?)
- The above issue is also present in the article body, ex. "An even more controversial direction was taken for the new university based on a daring vision that higher education should be completely separated from religious doctrine." I don't know what sources are being used for lots of this, but if they wax this poetic you might want to get better ones. Keep the writer opinions out of the article unless they are explicitly stated and quoted.
- Sections clearly unsourced or apparently unsourced in the article include:
- "The University of Virginia stands on land purchased in 1788 by an American Revolutionary War veteran (and eventual fifth President of the United States), James Monroe. The farmland just outside Charlottesville was purchased from Monroe by the Board of Visitors of what was then Central College in 1817; Monroe was beginning the first of his own two terms in the White House. Guided by Jefferson, the school laid its first building's cornerstone later in 1817 and the Commonwealth of Virginia would charter the new university on January 25, 1819."
- "Jefferson even went so far as to ban the teaching of Theology altogether. In a letter to Thomas Cooper in October 1814, Jefferson stated, "a professorship of theology should have no place in our institution" and, true to form, the University never had a Divinity school or department, and was established independent of any religious sect. Replacing the then-standard specialization in Religion, the University undertook groundbreaking specializations in scientific subjects such as Astronomy and Botany. (However, today the University does maintain one of the highest-rated Religious Studies departments in the U.S. and a non-denominational chapel, notably absent from Jefferson's original plans, was constructed in 1890 near the Rotunda.)"
- "Jefferson, ever the skeptic of central authority and bureaucracy, had originally decided the University of Virginia would have no President. Rather, this power was to be shared by a Rector and a Board of Visitors. As the nineteenth century waned, it became obvious this arrangement was incapable of adequately handling the many administrative and fundraising tasks which had become regrettably but unavoidably necessary amid the inner-workings of the growing University."
- "Throughout its history, the University of Virginia has won praise for its unique Jeffersonian architecture. "
- "The electrical fire was no doubt assisted by the unfortunate help of overzealous faculty member William "Reddy" Echols, who attempted to save it by throwing roughly 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite into the main fire in the hopes that the blast would separate the burning Annex from Mr. Jefferson's own Rotunda. His last-ditch effort ultimately failed. (Perhaps ironically, one of the University's main honors student programs is named for him.)" (also serious tone issues)
- "n the early 1960s, civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, Aaron Henry, Bayard Rustin, and others spoke at the University under the sponsorship of the Virginia Council on Human Relations, a student organization which presented speakers on Grounds who opposed the state's prevailing policy of racial segregation. John Lewis, Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee spoke in 1965 while his head was still bandaged from a police beating he received leading the first march from Selma."
- "Tuition is lower for both in-state and out-of-state students than at most other top universities."
- The above are merely a small sample; large swaths of the article are entirely or unclearly sourced, and this needs to be addressed.
- Additional tone issues include statements such as: "Admission to the University of Virginia is very competitive. A December 2005 National Bureau of Economic Research study of "high-achieving" undergraduate applicants found U.Va., at twentieth overall, to be the most preferred college located in the state of Virginia, some twenty-three spots ahead of Washington and Lee University," (why would you mention Washington and Lee unless it's a jab?)
- Current ref number 4 is a glaring example of original research at its best, and why is there a massive quote template in a reference?
In summation: this article is in parts poorly written, in large parts unsourced, and an general written in an entirely inappropriate tone I could be forgiven for thinking was written by admissions officers for the school. I'm not expecting a "list of controversies" subsection, and am expecting NPOV phrasing, section headers, and shading of the facts. Given the underlying issues and their magnitude, I am boldly delisting the article. It may be renominated at WP:GAN at any time, but I strongly recommend taking steps to address the above critical issues, and getting outside feedback and a Peer Review, before doing so: my review is hardly thorough in documenting the issues in this article. If you have questions or comments, please go to my talk page; I do not watchlist old reviews. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 18:01, 12 January 2010 (UTC)