A consistent graphic identity and writing style are essential for strengthening communication with the audiences of Harvey Mudd College so there is a clear understanding of the college's mission and goals.
This Editorial Style Guide provides guidelines for writing style, usage and style issues particular to HMC. These standards are for use in all published materials that represent the college to an external audience. The Style Guide follows "The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual" and "Webster's College Dictionary." "The Chicago Manual of Style" is also used as a secondary source for information not supplied in the primary references. The following Style Guide refers to these sources, lists some exceptions to them, and lists words and phrases specific to Harvey Mudd College.
Communications and Marketing oversees the Style Guide and design standards at HMC. Please direct questions or comments to communications@hmc.edu or 909/607-9298.
AABoG
HMC's Alumni Association Board of Governors
accept means to receive; except means to exclude
academic degrees
Lowercase bachelor of arts, a bachelor's degree, an associate degree (no possessive), a master of arts in engineering, a master's, a doctorate in mathematics, honorary doctorate.
Abbreviations of two letters should use periods:
- B.S., M.A., J.D., M.S.
No periods for abbreviations with three or more letters (BSEE, MBA). Exception: Ph.D. and LL.M.
Preferred sentence format:
- Lexi Jones, who earned a bachelor of science degree from Harvey Mudd College, has been appointed CEO of ABC Company.
- not Lexi Jones, who earned a B.S. from Santa Clara University…
If more than one graduate from the same family is mentioned, the preferred format is:
- Stan ’65 and Mary Smith ’82, attended the reunion.
academic grades
Capitalize (e.g., A, C+, D-). He has three A's and two D's.
academic departments
Official department names, followed by second reference format
:
Department of Biology, biology department or biology
Department of Chemistry, chemistry department or chemistry
Computer Science Department, computer science department or computer science
Department of Engineering, engineering department or engineering
Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts (with comma); HSA (preferred, on second reference)
Department of Mathematics, mathematics department or mathematics
Department of Physics, physics department or physics
academic majors
Lowercase general references (e.g., physics major)
academic titles
Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, director, chair, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. Professor Sam Smith. The task was given to department Chair Kelly Wilder.
The talk was given by physics professors Rex Matlof and Cindy Smith.
Whenever possible, include named professorships when faculty members are named to these positions: Susan and Bruce Worster Professor of Physics John S. Townsend, instead of simply Professor of Physics John S. Townsend.
addresses
Use abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address: 301 Platt Blvd. Spell out and capitalize when part of a formal street name with out a number: Platt Boulevard. Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name: Platt and Dartmouth boulevards.
All similar words (alley, drive, place, terrace, etc.) always are spelled out. Capitalize when part of a formal name without a number; lowercase when used alone or with two or more names.
Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names; use figures for 10th and above.
Abbreviate compass points: 301 E. Second St. Do not abbreviate if number is omitted: West Foothill Boulevard
No periods in quadrant abbreviations—NW, SE—unless customary locally.
Use periods in P.O. (for post office box numbers)
advisor (instead of "adviser"). This is HMC’s preference and differs from AP Stylebook.
African-American (Black)
People of African descent living in the United States. "Black" is an inclusive term for people of African descent, including, but not limited to, people from North and South America, the Caribbean and Africa.
afterparty
No hyphen
afterward, not afterwards
ages
Use figures to express a person’s age but not the age of an inanimate object.
Use whole numbers only, no fractions or decimals. List ages with a comma on both sides: Sally, 12, and Randy, 10, both collect toys.
aka (no periods)
all right (adverb), not alright.
alumnus (male singular), alumna (female, singular), alumnae (female, plural), alumni (plural male, or plural to include both male and female). Avoid using the informal "alum."
Do not place class year in parentheses or use a comma between name and class year. Keep last name and grad year together in publications (adjust tracking if necessary).
Greg Zindfel '88 (use a single apostrophe, slanting to left)
Josh Minkel '77/78 (received a bachelor's and master's degree from HMC. The master's program at HMC was discontinued in 2003.)
Bill Burns '87 and wife, Sally PZ '75 are joining us. (Abbreviations for The Claremont Colleges—SCR, POM, PZ, CMC, CGU, KGI. Used in the HMC Catalogue and when listing a spouse who graduated from those colleges.)
Alumni Association Board of Governors
Alumni Weekend
AM, FM
Radio transmission systems, no periods.
a.m., p.m. (include periods). Noon and midnight are neither a.m. nor p.m. Designate as noon or midnight.
among, not amongst
ampersand (&)
Avoid, except if it is part of a company's official title, and in a few accepted abbreviations: B&B.
Incorrect: Humanities & Social Sciences
Annual Mudd Fundd (yes, two d's)
apostrophe
Indicates possessive, contraction or missing letters/numbers. Use for plural of single letters only, not to pluralize acronyms or numbers.
In printed documents, use closing/slanting left ( ’ ) single apostrophe in front of the class year.
Don't use apostrophes for figures; just add s: He lived during the 1930s. The airplanes are 747s. Temperatures will be in the high 90s. Look for the size 8s.
Also: Who are the VIPs?
He took the SATs yesterday.
For single letters, use an apostrophe: Her report card contained three A's and five D's. Be on your p's and q's.
ASHMC
Associated Students of Harvey Mudd College
Asian American
People of Asian descent living in the United States, including, but not limited to, people of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino and Nepalese heritage. People from India prefer to be called South Asian. People from Pakistan may prefer to be called West Asian.
awards
Capitalize them: Medal of Honor, Outstanding Alumni Award, etc.
baby boomer
Lowercase, no hyphen
barbecue
Not barbeque
BASIC
Acronym for Beginners’ All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code. Use of acronym on first reference is acceptable if identified as a
programming language.
best-seller
Hyphenate in all uses
biannual, biennial
Biannual means twice a year and is a synonym of the word “semiannual.” Biennial means every two years.
biweekly
Means every other week. Semiweekly means twice a week.
black
Lowercase in reference to race and color
board
Capitalize when an integral part of a proper name: HMC Board of Trustees
The board of trustees met on Sunday.
He is a member of the board.
He serves on the Executive Committee of the board of trustees. See committees.
Brand names
When they are used, capitalize them (AstroTurf, Fritos). It is not necessary to include the copyright or trademark symbols— © ™ —in conjunction with the name.
buildings
Use the full name of campus buildings on first reference. If referring to room number, abbreviate building name.
Formal/complete name, second reference:
F.W. Olin Science Center, Olin
W.M. Keck Laboratories, Keck
Beckman Hall, Beckman
Norman F. Sprague Center, Sprague Center or Sprague
Galileo Hall, Galileo
Parsons Engineering Building, Parsons
Jacobs Science Center, Jacobs
Hixon Court
Booth Plaza
Kingston Hall, Kingston
Braun Liquidambar Mall, Liquidambar Mall
Joseph B. Platt Campus Center, Platt Campus Center or Platt
Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons, Hoch-Shanahan Dining Hall
Marks Residence Hall (South Hall), South Dorm or South
West Hall, West Dorm or West
North Hall, North Dorm or North
Mildred E. Mudd Hall (East Hall)
East Dorm or East
Ronald and Maxine Linde Activities Center, Linde or the LAC
Garrett House
J.L. Atwood Residence Hall, Atwood Hall or Atwood
Frederick and Susan Sontag Residence Hall, Sontag Hall or Sontag
Case Residence Hall, Case Dorm or Case
Ronald and Maxine Linde Residence Hall, Linde Dorm or Linde
teaching and learning building
Bulletin, Harvey Mudd College Bulletin or HMC Bulletin; college magazine
catalogue
Harvey Mudd College Catalogue
cellphone
chair
Instead of chairman, chairwoman or chairperson.
child care
Two words, no hyphen, in all cases.
Chicano/Chicana is a term reflecting pride in the indigenous roots of the Mexican-American people. See also, Latino/Latina and Hispanic.
cities and states
Place commas between the city and state and after the state name: He was traveling from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., to St. Louis, Mo., to get to his new job. Some major cities do not require state or country identification.
Never abbreviate Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Abbreviate other state names using Associated Press style.
The Claremont Colleges ("The" is capitalized)
Five-College, 5-College, 5-Cs, 3-Cs, 7-College, 7-Cs
Abbreviations for The Claremont Colleges—SCR, POM, PZ, CMC, CGU, KGI
Claremont University Consortium
The central coordinating and support organization for the seven institutions, created in 2000. Previously known as Claremont University Center. Also known as "the Consortium"
class
Capitalize alumni classes: Class of 1963 or Class of 1990
Do not capitalize class years: first-year, sophomore, junior, senior
Preferred name for entering students is first years instead of freshman/men. First-year student; They are first years.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS)
The intercollegiate athletic program of Harvey Mudd College, Scripps and Claremont McKenna. Women's teams are known as the Athenas, men's as the Stags
Clinic
A nationally recognized program begun at HMC in 1963
HMC Clinic Program, Clinic Program, Clinic fee, Clinic project, Engineering Clinic, Global Clinic, Physics Clinic team; He was a Clinic director; Clinic Director John Smith; Clinics
See also, Projects Day
College
Capitalize the word "college" when it references Harvey Mudd College (second reference).
college names
Harvey Mudd College, HMC for formal uses on first and second reference. "Mudd" when used informally, including admission publications. When referring to the school, “the College” and “HMC” are preferred over "Harvey Mudd.” See also, Mudder.
Spell out in most cases. Well-known abbreviations are acceptable in informal text, even on first reference: Caltech (not CalTech), UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC. Consider the publication audience when determining if spelling out the name is appropriate.
colon
Complete sentences precede a colon. After the colon, any structure can follow: a complete sentence, a single word, or word groups.
When typing, use one space after a colon.
Place colons outside of quotation marks unless they are part of the quotation itself.
comma
Commas are always placed inside quotation marks. "It is time to go," said Sam.
Using AP Stylebook guidelines, there is no comma at the end of a series before the word "and": She enjoys swimming, singing, eating and driving. Exception: include the comma if clarification calls for it, especially in regards to complicated series.
committees
Capitalize official names of committees: Admission Committee, Dormitory Affairs Committee, Executive Committee
compose, comprise, constitute
Compose means to create or put together.
Comprise means to contain, to include all or embrace.
Constitute, in the sense of form or make up, may be the best word if neither compose nor comprise seems to fit.
Core, Common Core
course, course work
Course names should be capitalized, with no quotes or italics: Introduction to Biology
Spell out full course title on first reference, even for courses that are well known internally: Introduction to Writing (Writ 1, second reference)
dashes
Use an en-dash (option-hyphen on Macintosh; Alt+ 0150 on PC); between numbers or dates. Examples: The test will be held Feb. 4–8. Fiscal year 2006–07. Her schedule consists of 15–16 credit hours.
A regular keyboard dash is used for email addresses
(e.g., students-l@hmc.edu)
Use an em-dash (shift-option-hyphen on Macintosh, Alt+ 0151 on PC) without spaces on either side.
For interruptions in thought: Victor knew the answer—which was rare for him—and raised his hand.
For a series within a phrase: He gave his reasons—safety, security, fear—for locking his door.
dates
Write out March, April, May, June and July. Abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. But do not abbreviate months when they stand alone, or with only a year:
The anniversary was Sept. 3, 2002.
She will perform in August 2005. (no comma between month and year)
For a range of dates with months, use “through” in body copy; use an en-dash in calendar listings.
For a range of years, write out both years and use an en-dash, 2005–2006.
In some instances, usually programs and invitations, writing out the month is acceptable and often preferred.
Use the day of the week with the date for clarification when possible. The lecture will be Friday, June 23, at 8 p.m. in Galileo Hall.
Never add st, nd, rd, or th after the number in a date. Incorrect: June 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 15th. Correct: June 1, 2, 3 or 15.
Use numerals for centuries (e.g., 18th century).
Add a dash when it's used as an adjective (e.g., 21st-century style).
Except in media releases, it is not necessary to refer to the year in body copy unless the date is in a different calendar year.
day care
Two words, no hyphen, in all uses.
degrees (see academic degrees)
departments
Capitalize academic departments and administrative offices when using the full formal title. Lowercase informal title, the preferable usage in body copy.
Office of Institutional Advancement, advancement office; Office of Career Services, career services. Note: Office of Admission (not Admissions), admission office.
Use “department” for academic departments; use “office” to refer to administrative department.
dimensions
Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards, etc., to indicate depth, height, length and width.
He is 4 feet 6 inches tall. The 5-foot-2-inch woman. The polo team signed a 6-footer.
The carpet is 6 feet by 10 feet.
The building has 70,000 square feet of floor space.
dollar amounts
Use a dollar sign followed by a numeral. Do not use .00 with dollar values: $500 (not $500.00), $17,200, $8.9 million. For large numbers, spell out: $1 million instead of $1,000,000.
dorm
Can be used in place of “residence hall” when referring to HMC student housing (Sontag Dorm instead of Sontag Residence Hall, etc.). The proper name is preferred in formal usage.
dot com, dot-com
She was hired by the dot com last year.
The effects of the dot-com bust have been devastating.
directions
Lowercase when they indicate compass direction: Drive north on Indian Hill to Foothill Blvd.
Capitalize when they designate regions:
They live in Southern California.
He was born in the Lower East Side of New York.
It is the biggest city on the West Coast. (denoting entire region)
It is snowing in the eastern United States.
Dr.
Do not use courtesy title Dr. before a name, even on first reference, unless person has a medical or veterinary degree. On second reference, use last name only.
email
Do not hyphenate. Do not underline emails in body text.
e.g.
Abbreviation for “for example” and is followed by a comma
Earth
Capitalize when used as the proper name of the planet: The astronaut returned to Earth.
She planned to move heaven and earth to complete her degree.
ellipses
Use a three-point ellipsis with spaces before and after to indicate deleted text. Use a four-point ellipsis, with a space after but not before, to denote the end of a complete sentence (Option semi-colon for Macintosh, Alt +0133 for PC)
Her speech included discussion about computers, food, staplers, lamps...more topics than one could believe.
He was a man of many talents....
Emeritus (man singular), emerita (woman singular), emeritae (women plural), emeriti (men plural)
ensure means to guarantee. Use insure for references to insurance.
faculty
The word “faculty” takes a singular verb. Use faculty members and staff members to avoid awkward singular constructions.
Family Weekend
FAQs
Frequently asked questions. Don’t use periods or apostrophe.
Farther, further
Farther refers to physical distance: He walked farther into the campus.
Further refers to an extension of time or degree: She will look further into the problem.
first come, first served (not first "serve")
first-year, first year(s)
Preferred instead of term freshman/freshmen: She is a first-year student. The event is open to first years.
fiscal year
Usually described as a span of years.
The new director will begin sometime during 2020-2021.
flier
Preferred term for handbill/poster or an aviator
forward, not forwards
freshman/men (see first-year, first year[s])
fundraising, fundraiser
Not hyphenated
: We will hire a fundraiser.
GPA
No periods. Spell out on first reference, grade point average.
grades
Place grades inside quotation marks if used in text.
He earned a "B-" in the chemistry course.
Handicapped
Disabled is the preferred term
Harvey Mudd College, HMC, the College
Use Harvey Mudd College on first reference. In subsequent references, use “the College.” HMC and Harvey Mudd are also acceptable on second reference. Using Mudd on second reference is less preferred and should be used sparingly.
headlines
Capitalize words in headlines that are longer than three letters. Don’t use punctuation unless it’s a question mark or (sparingly) an exclamation point.
Hispanic
A term grouping all people of Spanish-speaking descent. This is the preferred inclusive term in some regions, especially in the Southwest.
When known, a more specific identification should be used: Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican-American (people of Mexican descent living in the United States).
See also, Chicano/Chicana and Latino/Latina
home page
Honor Code, HMC's
Capitalize unless referring to an honor code in general.
The Harvey Mudd College Honor Code is well-known.
She reported the infraction because she is bound by our Honor Code.
A college honor code is an important feature.
hyphenation, word division (when typing)
At the end of a line, do not break a word following a short vowel (e.g. trans-ition, not transi-tion)
Hyphenations should follow a vowel only if it has a long sound (e.g. communica-tion)
Avoid three or more consecutive end-of-line hyphens.
When jumping to another page, do not hyphenate a word.
Avoid breaking names and class years, dates and numerical units (e.g. $500 million; keep the figure together)
Hyphenate re- words when they contain an “e”: re-examine
Inc.
Abbreviate and do not precede by a comma
initials
Do not separate with a space: R.C. Cola
Internet
It is acceptable to begin Web addresses without http:// or www.: e.g., hmc.edu. Consider the audience when deciding whether or not to add "www." It is best practice to test any web address before publishing.
Capitalize Internet and the Web, World Wide Web
Lowercase website, web page, webcast, webmaster
italics (See also, quotation marks)
Italics are used for titles of longer works.
- Certain scientific names
- Court case names
- Named vehicles like ship classes and ship names
- Art exhibitions, books, comic strips, computer and video games, films and documentaries, long/epic poems, musical albums, musicals, paintings and sculptures, periodicals (newspapers, journals and magazines), plays, television and radio series (individual episodes should appear in quotes)
Use italics, not all caps or underlining, to highlight an emphasized word: She was absolutely not going to attend.
Punctuation following an italicized word is also italicized. But open and close quotes and parentheses always match, even if the last word is in italics.
“Did you read Glamour?” she asked.
Works that exist as a smaller part of a larger work are placed in quotation marks.
its, it’s
Its is possessive. It’s means “it is.”
junior, senior
Abbreviate as Jr. and Sr. and do not precede by a comma: Manny Smith Sr.
Latino/Latina refers to people of Latin American origin. It is an emerging inclusive term for people from North America, Central America, South America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. See also, Chicano/Chicana and Hispanic.
Lecture title
Set off with quotes. Do so with speech titles and article titles, also.
login, logon, logoff
Mach number
Capitalize: Mach 1, Mach 2
Maiden/birth names
Loren (Shay) Ross; Loren Shay Ross if used as full name
Master of Ceremonies, Mistress of Ceremonies
Not "Master of Ceremony." More than one host, regardless of gender: Masters of Ceremonies
mid
Do not hyphenate unless a capitalized word follows or when it precedes a figure
Middle Easterners
An inclusive term referring to people from a region in western Asian and northeast Africa that includes but is not limited to, the nations of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. The term Arab traditionally referes to a person from the Arabian Peninsula.
midnight
Use instead of 12 a.m. or 12 midnight
money
For amounts of $1 up to $999,999.99, use the dollar sign with a decimal point to separate dollars from cents.
- $20.15
Leave the decimal point and zeroes off of even dollar amounts.
- $30
For even amounts of $1 million or more, omit zeroes and use “million,” “billion,” etc.
- $7 million
- $2.2 billion
Spell out the word cents and lowercase, using numerals for amounts less than a dollar.
- 78 cents
- Ten cents’ worth
months (See dates.)
Mudder
Capitalize. Refers in particular to alumni and students--but can also refer to faculty and staff--of Harvey Mudd College.
The dictionary defines "mudder" as "a race horse that performs especially well on a wet, muddy track."
Native American
Indigenous people who inhabited the Americas and Caribbean prior to the European conquest. Many Native Americans use tribe in referring to their people. Recommended usage is to refer, whenever possible, to a particular pople or nation by name, i.e. Iroquois, Navajo, Cherokee, Sioux, etc.
nicknames
Place in parenthesis
9/11
Refers to terrorist events on Sept. 11, 2001.
noon
Use instead of 12 p.m.
numbers
Use numerals for ages, percentages, headlines, units of credit. Use decimals, not fractions, in text.
capitalization: Page 3, Room 24, Group 2
Spell out numbers from one to nine, use numerals for all higher numbers. However, spell out a number at the beginning of a sentence. Write out numbers expressed in quotations.
Use figures to express a person’s age, but not the age of an inanimate object.
Use decimals, not fractions, in body text. Use commas with numbers in the thousands. (e.g. 5,234)
Spell out first through “ninth,” use figures for 10th and higher; do not superscript the ordinal.
Spell out the word "percent," but not the numeral preceding "percent." (e.g. 99 percent, 4 percent). Use the symbol % in charts. Precede decimal with a zero for amounts less than 1 percent (0.3 percent). The verb used with percent depends on whether its entity is singular or plural (20 percent of the class is sleeping… 13 percent of the teachers are camping)
Use numerals for credit hours. (e.g. To be considered a full-time student, you must take 12 semester hours of credit.)
No. 1 is preferred in body text over “number one,” unless quoted.
Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards, etc., to indicate depth, height, length and width. Hyphenate adjectival forms before nouns.
- He is 4 feet 3 inches tall, the 6-foot-1-inch woman, the 7-foot man, the basketball team signed a 6-footer.
- The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide and 5 feet high.
- The rug is 6 feet by 12 feet, the 6-by-12 rug.
- The storm left 5 inches of snow.
- The building has 70,000 square feet of floor space.
OK (not okay)
office
Non-academic areas are offices. Office of Career Services; second reference, career services office. See also “departments.”
online, offline
over, more than
Use “more than” with numerals; “over” when referring to spatial relationships
Pacific Islander
People of the islands in the Pacific Ocean including the three major ethnic groups: Polynesians (Tahitians, Samoans, Hawaiians and others); Micronesians (U.S. Trust Territories, Guam, Wake Island, Bikini and Kwajelin); Melanesians (New Zealand, Australia and the Solomans).
page number
Use figures and capitalize: The article is on Page 5.
Do not hyphenate when letters are added: Page 4B.
parents
HMC parents are noted as such by a "P" and the year their student will graduate following a parent's name. There are no spaces, nor is there an apostrophe before the year.
Sam and Mary Smith P08 are happy to volunteer.
period
When typing, use one space after a period.
phone numbers
Preferred format: 909.621.8011
Write extensions as ext. 234, not x234.
prefixes
Generally do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant. Some exceptions:
- Except for cooperate and coordinate, use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.
- Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized.
- Use a hyphen to join doubled prefixes: sub-subparagraph
premiere
A first performance
Presentation Days (not Presentations Day)
Q-and-A
Acceptable abbreviation for when referring to a question and answer session.
quotation marks
The following should be placed within quotation marks:
articles, essays or papers
chapters of a longer work
single episodes of a TV or video series
short poems
short stories
songs and singles
speeches and lectures
Place semicolons outside of quotation marks. Place colons outside of quotation marks unless they are part of the quotation itself. Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks.
radio/TV call letters
Use all caps: WBZ-AM, ABC-TV
residence hall
Preferred term when referring to HMC student housing. "Dorm" is acceptable.
resume
No accents. (Associated Press style)
reunion
Lowercase "reunion" unless part of an official name: the reunion, the reunion dinner, 50th reunion, 40th Reunion Gift Fund
RSVP
Use without periods. An abbreviation of the French phrase "respondez s'il vous plait," or, in English, "Respond if you please" or simply "Please respond." Do not use the phrase "Please RSVP," because it is redundant; you are then saying "Please respond if you please." It's better to just say "RSVP by ..." or "RSVP to 607-8335" and leave off the redundant "Please."
seasons
Lowercase spring, summer, fall and winter; spring semester; summer 2010
semicolons
Place semicolons outside of quotation marks.
states
Use abbreviations with cities in body text; use postal codes with full mailing addresses that include zip code.
stationary, stationery
To stand still is to be stationary.
Writing paper is stationery.
startup
Noun and adjective
student/faculty ratio or student-to-faculty ratio
Summer Undergraduate Research Program, summer research program
teaching and learning building
The preferred way to refer to HMC's newest building, now under construction. Use initial caps on maps so as to coincide with other building names. When formally named, the building name will be capitalized.
television
TV, acceptable as an adjective or noun. For formatting television programs, see “titles”
that, which
When the idea is added information, good but not essential, use “which” and commas.
When the idea is essential to the sentence—helps identify the main idea--use “that” and no commas.
the
Use lowercase "the" except in newspaper or book titles, except where the is the first word and designated by the publication as part of the title (e.g., Los Angeles Times, The New York Times). Another exception: The Claremont Colleges
theater, unless referring to a proper name spelled "theatre"
times
a.m., p.m. (use periods)
Use figures except for noon and midnight: 8 a.m., 6 p.m. For formal invitations, programs and similar documents, the format (with zeros: 8:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m.) is often preferred.
Do not write out minutes at the top of the hour (e.g., The meeting lasts from 9 to 10:15 a.m., not 9:00–10:15 a.m.).
Do not repeat a.m. or p.m. if within the same time period (e.g., 8–10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.–10 a.m.).
If using the word "from" use the word "to" instead of a dash. Correct: The event lasts from 9 a.m. to 3:12 p.m.; Incorrect: The event lasts from 9 a.m.-3:12 p.m.
Do not use a.m. or p.m. with 12:00; use noon or midnight.
The word "on" is seldom needed when referring to a time or date. Correct: She arrived Monday. Incorrect: She arrived on Monday.
titles, professions
Capitalize titles when they appear immediately before a proper name.
President Maria Klawe spoke at the event.
Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, signed the agreement.
The dean agreed with the committee.
titles, works
TV programs, movies, music albums, books, magazines, journals and newspapers should be italicized: The New York Times, HMC Bulletin. Online magazines, journals and scholarly publications also should be italicized.
Use quotation marks for:
- Individual episodes of a TV series
- Individual songs on an album
- Poems, stories, book chapters, essays
- Dissertations
- Lectures, speeches, presentation titles (Use initial caps for all words except for prepositions and conjunctions less than four letters)
- Musical compositions
- Plays
- Works of art (paintings, drawings, sculptures)
Course titles are capitalized but not placed in quotations (e.g. Theoretical Mechanics; Introduction to Writing)
toward
Not towards, which is more common in British English
trustee
Capitalize only if used before the name of a member of HMC’s board of trustees.
24/7, slang for 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Twitter
verb, “to Twitter” or “to tweet.” A “tweet” is a Twitter message.
under way
Two words in virtually all uses: The project us under way. The maneuvers are under way.
One word when used as an adjective before a noun in a nautical sense: an underway flotilla.
United States, spell out when used as a noun; U.S. (adj.)
University of California system, CSU system
Spell out on first reference in most instances. Exceptions (more well-known universities that cannot be confused with any other college or university): e.g., UCLA, Caltech.
URL
The use of http:// and www in publications is not usually necessary. Don’t italicze or underline addresses in text. Avoid breaking URLs across multiple lines of text, if possible. See Internet.
voice mail
Two words
vice versa
website, webmaster, Web address, World Wide Web, Web page
Lowercase website, webcam, webcast, webmaster. Website names are typeset without quotes: She suggested we view ted.com.
Computer game apps are placed in quotes: "FarmVille"
West Coast, the West
Lowercase if used as a directional indicator.
white
Members of what is considered the majority culture in the United States. While the term Caucasian is commonly used in place of White, neither a common ancestry related to the Caucasus Mountains region, nor an assumption that all whites are culturally or ethnically homogeneous, should be assumed.
white paper
Two words, lowercase, when used to refer to a special report.
Wi-Fi
works of art
Italicize names of works of art
work-study
years
Use an en-dash when expressing a range of years. HMC’s preferred format is to express a range of years fully: 1996–1998, 1985–2001. See also “dates.”
YouTube
ZIP code
Do not separate the state from its zip code. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
zip line
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