Talk:Hamilton College

--- I added a lot of numbers. I got them all from [1] (http://www.hamilton.edu/hamilton_at_a_glance/studentbody.html). Is this a possible copyright infringement? I don't think it would be, but I want to be safe -- Quinwound 01:07, Mar 9, 2004 (UTC)

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Ward Churchill and similar issues

I'm wondering if it makes sense to include items like the Ward Churchill controversy in an article of this type. While this is news now, there have been events like this in the past, and it seems like this opens the doors to including other past embarrassments and triumphs that are not listed in the history (events like the rededication of the Oneida chief’s grave in 1998, and the firing of a professor associated with the raelians in 2001 spring to mind). It seems like such information while important when they happened, have quickly faded in importance. For any institution of such age it seems there would be 1000's of such events. Listing them all would only serve as a distraction.--Ahc 14:44, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I think events like this should appear in the article, but should be properly contextualized as time passes. As the Churchill flap fades, it should appear perhaps as a sentence or two near the end, in a "trivia" or "history" section of some sort. If there really are thousands of more important or interesting events in the college's history, if some are added to the article they will crowd out the lesser events. --Kevin Myers 15:28, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)

I'm still not sure I agree. It's not that there are 1000's of more important events, just similar events. Should an encyclopedia article contain lots of triva? --Ahc 04:44, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

In an attempt to find the right balance here between providing information and not making it sound like it's critical to the school's history, I added a section for campus speakers. I've been thinking about this anyway to add in the Great Names speakers so I figured this was a good time. I also edited the paragraph some, most notably I removed the two links to media sources since they both were as much about UC as Hamilton, and both are already fairly out of date. I would suggest the NYT piece from a couple days ago, but it will only be active for 2 weeks, and just posting the rebuttal from Hamilton seems biased. --Ahc 05:27, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Nicely done! Perhaps no external links are needed, since the Churchill link will probably give readers all the info they'll need. --Kevin Myers 15:25, Feb 11, 2005 (UTC)

Rather than detracting from the page, I think adding events like this (what one called "trivia") from Hamilton's history add breadth and depth to the topic. And isn't that what an encyclopedia is about? As an alumnus, I love adding recollections about historical events (e.g. Kirkland merger), which give a flavor you'll never find on their official site. --Stew Stryker '81 - 22:07, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I think an Events Timeline (perhaps one similiar in form to the Livejournal Timeline) would be a good solution to this problem. All the bits of information that seemed important and interesting could be added to the timeline, but they wouldn't dominate the entry's focus on the college itself.

Campus Names

With reference to the History section: As a current Hamilton student (sophomore in '05-06), I I have *NEVER* heard any part of campus referred to as 'Stryker.' The vast majority of the time, the two sides are simply Dark Side and Light Side, or in administrator's terms, North and South. I feel that this statement should be revised, but--for any alums who may be looking at this, have you heard it called as such before? Thoughts on removing it? --- ~Lord Apolon 00:13, Jun 7, 2005

Admitedly the Stryker reference has fallen mostly from the campus lexicon. But as a member of '01 I heard the term frequently when working in C&D and from Alumni. It was also still on several campus maps, and could be found from time to time in literature from the Pres. office. As an alum I still hear the term from other (mostly older) alumni. Light Side was the common term among the student body. --Ahc 19:23, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)