Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of fraternities and sororities at University of Texas at Austin


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   no consensus. &mdash;Sean Whitton / 14:03, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

List of fraternities and sororities at University of Texas at Austin
AfDs for this article: 
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I came in for some criticism for speedily deleting a similar list for the University of Southern Mississippi on the grounds of it being a group with no notability. For me, groups and lists are not mutually exclusive, and I consider these articles are merely groups of societies that have a membership.

I see no encyclopaedic value here. Whilst the fraternities and sororities may in themselves be notable, the fact that they exist at a given university is not. From a non-US point of view, it's a little like "List of sports clubs at University of Kent" or "List of social clubs at Essex University" or "Motoring clubs for Civil Servants". I can accept that an individual fraternity or sorority at an individual university could be notable, but there is no indication that this is the case for any of those listed here. Deb (talk) 10:28, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions.   —• Gene93k (talk) 11:34, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Schools-related deletion discussions.   —• Gene93k (talk) 11:34, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Texas-related deletion discussions.   —• Gene93k (talk) 11:34, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete - I am surprised that all these clubs have their own articles but that is a by the by. This is an instance where the list has no added value over categories.
 * Well, using the first fraternity listed as an example, Acacia Fraternity, according to List of Acacia chapters it would have to be in 94 categories to equal the value of lists. I don't think that's particularly practical. --Stormie (talk) 08:24, 20 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Delete or Merge to University of Texas at Austin. Not notable to be a separate article. Lehoiberri (talk) 04:14, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The article is already huge. I think you have a point with the notability thing, but merging into the main article is problematic in itself. RayAYang (talk) 08:10, 20 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Keep/Comment. It sounds perfectly encyclopedic when writing about a college to explain which fraternities have chapters there.  For our non-US editors, most of these organizations exist at the national level and have different missions or a religious or cultural basis.  From being on a similar AFD a while back, it seems a better solution is to create a "Greek Life" template instead of a list, so you'd have this unobtrusive box listing all the organizations ( by Greek letter ) under headings such as which council they belong to. Squidfryerchef (talk) 04:37, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep. If we assume that the fraternities themselves are notable (certainly I've never seen any serious claim to the contrary), and obviously we assume that the University of Texas at Austin is notable; why is it not reasonable to provide a list of which fraternities are active at that university? --Stormie (talk) 08:24, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * To paraphrase that slightly, MacDonalds, KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut are notable; New York, Vancouver, London, Paris are notable, so we should have 'List of fast food outlets in New York', 'List of fast food outlets in Vancouver', etc.? (actually, WP:NOTDIR explicitly says no to these) -- Ratarsed (talk) 12:15, 20 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Delete per WP:NOTDIR. Whilst the fraternities are notable as a whole, and the university is notable, In my opinion this list should only list those that are notable for being at the University of Texas at Austin; I'd suggest that these could be treated in a similar manner to franchises -- i.e. the franchise (or fraternity in this case) can be notable, and the location can be notable, but it is rare that the fraternity in the location is notable enough to warrant an article in its own right. In addition, none of the other US Universities I've checked have an equivalent list article. Maybe this list could be better handled in University of Texas at Austin (not necessarily bulleted) as well as the existing lists such as List of Phi Gamma Delta chapters. -- Ratarsed (talk) 12:11, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep Discriminate list of notable organizations at a notable institution. Is a list by theme as defined by WP:LISTS. The existance of each organization at this campus may need citations for verification, but that is a cleanup issue, not grounds for an AfD. The list is discriminate, entirely composed of notable entities, and useful. Jim Miller (talk) 20:28, 24 July 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.