Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Student activism at the University of Virginia


 * 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 Draftify. The only argument for keeping is from User:Ɱ, but there's nothing policy-compliant there. Given that, I could justify closing this as delete, but the more reasonable path is to go with User:Bluerasberry's request to move this to draft space, where it can be worked on without any time pressure. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:10, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Student activism at the University of Virginia

 * – ( View AfD View log  Stats )

While the article has 40 sources, at closer glance almost none of them are independent. Most seem to have been published by the organizations in question. The news coverage is also lacking, any coverage was mainly by the University of Virginia's student papers, which while could provide some supporting evidence, is not sufficient for notability purposes. A search for more general news coverage didn't turn up much, although its possible I'm not searching the right terms. Overall: lack of real sources = lack of notability. CaptainEek Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 20:54, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Education-related deletion discussions.  CaptainEek  Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 20:54, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Virginia-related deletion discussions.  CaptainEek  Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 20:54, 31 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Weak Delete I've been watching this article for a while, it came up in NPP and I just couldn't figure out what to do with it (so I left it where it was and hoped someone else would figure it out!). I'm still not absolutely certain. On the one hand, it's clear that there is a lot of student activism at UVa, and there probably are sources out there about the topic at a broad level. On the other, the article is a blend of WP:SYNTH and WP:COATRACK and almost entirely based on primary sources. Based on the number of very new editors involved and their edit summaries, I think this was a class project, and I think everyone wanted to add their student organization's history of protesting, which we see get out of hand in several sections (see, for example, the "Black Students for Freedom" and "Union of University Students" sections, which (respectively) list the organization's founding principles and their org structure). Bottom line, the article in its current state does not establish notability of the topic and I doubt there is any amount of editing that could save it. If high-quality scholarly or news coverage is found (and I think it's at least possible that such coverage exists), I would support TNT + rewrite in place of deletion. creffett (talk) 01:15, 1 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Considering 's response below, I'd be willing to accept draftification with BR keeping an eye on it as an alternative to deletion. I'm happy to contribute to the discussion for improving it, but I expect that the vast majority of the article will need to be redone (thus my earlier TNT+rewrite comment). creffett (talk) 01:48, 7 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm unsure without a closer review, but I disagree with the statement that "almost none of [the sources] are independent." The mere fact that a news source is adjacent to the topic it covers does not necessarily impact its independence. I think if it is kept, this article will need substantial work; there are probably ways to weave in regional or statewide publications in a way that supports the narrative, and there may be some difficult-to-support pieces that should be trimmed. Regardless, I am impressed by the effort to mine difficult-to-access sources for information for presentation in Wikipedia, and I hope some of this information can be retained in some form that fits Wikipedia's policies. -Pete Forsyth (talk) 17:46, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Request either time extension or move to draft I am an experienced wiki editor at this university. I assisted in coordinating the collaboration between students, some instructors, and the library in developing this Wikipedia article. This was a class project, and the people involved would like to reflect on this deletion nomination and consider a response. COVID-19 has caused disruptions, but we are talking on the 9 April and might need longer to get feedback from student editors. I acknowledge that Wikipedia has standards which it should keep. For a more complete response, I would like to talk with instructors, librarians, and maybe students to support them in speaking for themselves. Thanks. If anyone has anything supportive to say about what went right then positive feedback is especially welcome.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  01:36, 7 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Keep and expand It's evident this is a notable enough subject within the university's bubble - over 65 pieces have been published on the topic. That many people writing about an issue ensures it's a topic significant enough. As someone from a college with no current activism, and no compilations of historical activism, this is an important work. I would like to see the students and faculty develop this article to expand sourcing, including reputable campus/student publications like UVA Today and 'The Cavalier Daily''. ɱ  (talk) 18:05, 7 April 2020 (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.