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On May 23, 2018, I (Bradv) declined a draft article about Donna Strickland. The draft had been created by Campbpt0 two months earlier, on March 28, 2018, and no other editors had contributed to it in the meantime. The author had made no other edits to Wikipedia either before or since.
This draft has received considerable media attention, and attracted a variety of comments from around the community about my actions, perceived problems with the Articles for Creation project, and about gender bias on Wikipedia, particularly as it pertains to women working in STEM fields.
This essay is a personal review and reflection of what happened, what might have been done differently, and what we could possibly change going forward.