I think this information should be incorporated into a prose narrative on the history of the college. When did the college move from Jeremiah Chaplin's house to Coburn Hall? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.55.194.28 (talk • contribs) .

Be bold and do it (but that move was WELL before my day, so I can't answer your question :-). John (Jwy) 20:44, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm very pleased to see the Colby article finally being expanded and improved. That said, there are a number of assertions in the opening few paragraphs that need to be backed up or removed.

Things that need more detail:

1. "known for its challenging academic program, supportive faculty, and international atmosphere." How is it challenging? How are they supportive? What about Colby makes it have an international atmosphere (and what do you mean by that?)
2. "Colby is known for its intellectual rigor, its supportive campus community and atmosphere, and its global reach." Similar to the previous comment: assertions without detail or evidence.
3. "Colby is one of the nation's...best independent colleges of liberal arts." Based based on what ranking? USNWR, where it's tied for 19th place? Compare the Williams (USNWR #1) and Amherst (USNWR #2) articles to this one for an idea how to handle this. Unless you're thinking of a different ranking...
4. "Many graduates attend highly selective advanced-degree programs." How many? What percentage? Which? Again, see the Williams article, which cites a ranking that ranked them fifth.
5. "It is a national leader in research- and project-based undergraduate learning." Who says it's a leader? Is there some ranking? (Perhaps you might expand on the project-based curriculum.)

Things which should probably be removed:

1. "Colby balances a tradition of innovation with a commitment to liberal learning." This reads like a brochure from Colby.
2. "The quality of the faculty is recognized as the College's greatest asset, and the depth of student-faculty interaction and collaboration is unparalleled."
3. "one of the nation’s most picturesque college campuses."
4. "Colby's... campus is one of the nation's most beautiful."
5. "Colby students are a unique and intelligent group."

I could remove the boosterism myself, but it would be much better if the evidence could be provided for the assertions. -Rjyanco 17:22, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Rjyanco, I completely agree. My area of Colby expertise has more to do with the institution's history so I'm focussing effort there but will tackle the messy (and as you point out boosterific) text at the top if no one else jumps in.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the order of alumni? Perhaps most-recent to oldest would be better. --ZachBG 14:48, July 23, 2005 (UTC)

Never mind; I just realized it's alphabetical. --ZachBG 23:34, July 23, 2005 (UTC)

I just re-alphabetized them (by last name) since they were all willy-nilly in there. Also, I'd like some input on some of the people - particularly Steve Cummings and Eric DeCosta. I don't see how either of these people is "famous". I'll delete them again if necessary, but if someone wants to justify them, that'd be great.

Is there any evidence for the "underground fraternities?" It seems to be a bold assertion, but one without a citation or anything to back it up.

Actually, yes - or at least there's old evidence:

NYTimes, Aug 29, 1994 "Fraternities Go Underground to Defy College Ban". Article is primarily about Middlebury, but there is a brief interview with a Colby student/member of an underground fraternity

USAToday, Sept 20, 1990 "College suspends fraternity members" Focus is on Colby

My access to both of these is through subscription databases, so I can't provide a direct link.

However, as far as current underground fraternities, I didn't find specific evidence of that in a quick and dirty search, and the way that section was phrased, it implied current. I think it is part of history of the school (it was a big deal when I started, shortly after the suspension), but unless evidence can be located for their current existence, that portion can't really be in the present tense.

Who the hell keeps messing with this entry? You can't find textual evidence for an underground fraternity because it's underground. My frickin coot leader was in one.

I changed it. Your coot leader is not a citation. Find a current citation and you can include it. Until then, it stays out OR rewrite it so that it lives in the past tense, not the current tense - there's earlier citations from my time there, but not current citations. Encyclopedic entries are not based on hearsay. Lcarscad 10:56, 15 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

my coot leader was bigfoot, so that must obviously exist as well. Additionally, what is a coot leader, if it has to do with colby, should it be included in the article?

COOTs (Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips) could certainly be included in the article, because they are one of the things that people tend to remember most about their time at Colby. If it doesn't get included, I'll work on adding some information about them within the next week or so, but if anyone wants to add information about the COOT program to the article before I get to it, feel free. Lcarscad 13:43, 15 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This information doesn't really belong in the historical timeline section. If you'd like to re-write it in prose format and add it to the academics section, it fits better there.

Also, I cannot find Bradford Curtis is affiliated with this center in any way. Can someone provide verification for or against? I've deleted him for now.

Lcarscad 20:18, 17 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

the mascot has been changed recently to just be the mule as this has been deemed more PC. I've looked on colby.edu to try to find something to back this up, but I can't find anything. But at the same time, there is no reference to the white mule being the mascot either. Also, colby.edu/echo is not working, so I'm not sure where we can get anything to affirm this change.

I spoke to the College Relations office at Colby this morning - 1/3/2007 and was informed that the mascot is not changing from the White Mule to the Mule. As such, I am making the change back. Lcarscad 13:51, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bi and Bridge & Tunnel, could you use this space to discuss whether to include Frank Wallace instead of reverting back and forth? I'd like to see the arguments for and against, and the edit summaries really don't provide that. Lcarscad 12:08, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wallace is the originator of the philosophy called Neo-Tech. He has written a large amount of books, which are cited in other books, etc. See Amazon.com for a list of some books [1]. Wallace was also involved in publicized court case where he challenged the oath one says in court, which is cited in law textbooks. DC Comics issued a comic books series based on his Neo-Tech philosophy. Read the Frank R. Wallace article. But you have to catch it before Bi deletes the information. Someone put a tag up there requesting sources and evidence of notability, so I'm adding some, but Bi keeps deleting the information when I add it. He doesn't want Wallace to be notable, even through he is. It's disruptive of him to delete information. Bridge & Tunnel 20:48, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not going to get involved in the edit conflict or the debate, because frankly, I know nothing about this person and don't feel that I can adequately judge notability in this case - I'm more concerned about this article, not anything that's going on with another article. I'm willing to leave it in for the time being, pending a decision on the Frank R. Wallace article & the notability of the subject. Lcarscad 13:14, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The result of the vote was that he is notable. [2] Bridge & Tunnel 05:22, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]