Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robert Clayton Matthews


 * 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   delete. WP:SNOW  MBisanz  talk 03:24, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Robert Clayton Matthews

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Insufficient notability &mdash; secretary-treasurer of an academic honor society. &mdash; ERcheck (talk) 12:36, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment Does the fact that the organization named their highest award in his honor confer enough notability? I'm torn, as one would hope the honorees would know who this person was, but would anyone outside the organization know?74.69.39.11 (talk) 13:46, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep As I wrote on the article discussion page: "The notability of the Secretary-Treasurer position is immediately apparent from the frequent references to the position in the Constitution and Bylaws and Eligibility Code of the Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc., and the fact that it is one of two permanent, appointed positions in that organization. It is also notable that the organization's outstanding chapter award is named after him, and that the headquarters of the organization was moved in 1907 to accommodate his relocation, and that it remains in that location today." If you read the Constitution and Bylaws, it is immediately apparent that the Secretary-Treasurer is the de-facto chief executive of the organization.  It is also worth noting that R. C. Matthews was the first person to hold the Secretary-Treasurer position, and since his retirement in 1947, there have only been two other people who have held that position: Robert H. Nagel, who held the position from 1947 to 1982; and James D. Froula, who has held the position since 1982 .  There is one other notability claim that I'd like to mention--I've seen claims that R. C. Matthews invented modern acrobatic cheerleading, and I am working on finding reliable secondary sources to either support or refute that claim. Eyliu (talk) 17:17, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete There is no guideline that some organization naming an award after someone automatically makes him notable. Does not appear to satisfy WP:BIO. Edison (talk) 17:26, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment What part of the basic criteria for notability from WP:BIO, "A person is presumed to be notable if he or she has been the subject of published secondary source material which is reliable, intellectually independent, and independent of the subject," am I failing to meet? I am starting with two published secondary sources: The semi-centennial alumni record of the University of Illinois, pp. 167-168; and the 2009 Tau Beta Pi Information Book.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eyliu (talk • contribs) 17:50, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete  Notability only within the organization. The presdient of a major national association is notable, not lesser officers.DGG (talk) 17:56, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment I will repeat again, since no one seems to be reading the references that I've provided (and no one seems to be responding directly to any of my arguments, which doesn't make this much of a discussion :-/ ).  A cursory reading of the Constitution and Bylaws and Eligibility Code of the Tau Beta Pi Association, Inc. will make it immediately apparent that the Secretary-Treasurer of this particular organization is arguably more notable than the President. Eyliu (talk) 18:10, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * this is possible, so explain to us why in one paragraph, that could be used in the article, with specific short quotes, intsead of just citing the whole thing. DGG (talk) 22:09, 15 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete - fails the requirement that notability be demonstrated through coverage in multiple, independent, reliable sources. Most of the sources are from Tau Beta Phi themselves, who are not independent of the subject. Robofish (talk) 22:08, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete clearly unnotable per WP:BIO. Eusebeus (talk) 18:16, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete I am clearly wasting my time making changes and arguments that are not being read or responded to. I have made a copy of the page in my user space in case I find time to fix this article later. Eyliu (talk) 20:55, 16 March 2009 (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.