Talk:George R. Cavender

Best Option for Article Name
The article originally used George's full name as its title. However, his full middle name is only found infrequently with materials referencing him by name. Additionally, there was a notable actor known as "George Cavender" and it seems prudent to leave that name available should someone one day create an article about him in order to avoid confusion at that time. In the end, I settled on "George R. Cavender," and Moved the page to accomplish the name change, as this seemed the best option for naming this article in a manner unique enough, and yet commonly recognized enough to aid the user in easily locating it, if this is the George they seek.

Bachelor's Degree
The available materials I've reviewed so far disagree on exactly which Bachelor's degree George earned. Some reference a "B.S.," some a "B.Mus.," and still others just a "Bachelor's" degree. To sidestep the issue for now, I've used the latter term, but hope to one day have more decisive evidence to support one of the other, more precise terms.

Additionally, there is some disagreement on where George earned that degree. There are references to both "Northern Michigan College of Education" (now Northern Michigan University) and "Marquette University." To this editor, the case for Northern Michigan College of Education is the stronger one. Firstly, it is a school whose primary purpose at the time was preparing its students to enter the field of education, which is precisely the career path taken by Cavender. Marquette University's early goal was to offer "an affordable Catholic education to the area's emerging German immigrant population." The references to NMU appear much earlier in George's life, just 6 years after earning that degree. While the reference to Marquette University is found in the "Memoir" material drafted by the U of M Regents over 30 years later, in 1990 after Northern Michigan College of Education had been renamed. It is also worth noting that NMU is located in Marquette, MI (133 miles from George's birthplace) which is likely what confused the regents. Marquette University is a private, Catholic school located in Milwaukee, WI (303 miles from his birthplace). This position is affirmed by NMU whose alumni association honored Cavender with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1982.