Editorial Style Guide

academic degrees

In biography copy, spell out and capitalize the full degree name on first reference. On second reference, use bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, etc.

Avoid abbreviating degree names in narrative text: “Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.” (See majors.)
A person earns a degree, they do not receive a degree: “He earned a bachelor’s in Anthropology.” 
Use an apostrophe in “bachelor’s” and “master’s,” but not “associate degree.”
Academic degrees should only be cited after a name if it is a terminal degree (Ph.D., J.D., etc.) or specialist certification, such as medical or nutritional certifications.
Use periods when abbreviating degrees: Ph.D., J.D. (exception per AP: MBA). 
When used after a name, an academic degree abbreviation is set off by commas: “John Snow, Ph.D., joined the faculty.”
Academic degrees should only be listed after a name if they are relevant to the content or upon request from the subject. 
The use of “Dr.” as a courtesy title is generally reserved for medical and veterinary degrees only. Being specific about the specialization is preferred. (Exceptions based on professional requests.)

academic titles

Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as provost, president, professor, chair, etc., when they precede or follow a name. Lowercase when the title stands alone. Do not use “professor” as a courtesy title, instead, use the correct earned title or rank. Lowercase modifiers, such as department in “department Chair Jerome Wiesner.” (See also doctor, Ph.D.; endowed professorships; professor; titles.)

Examples:

“President Sarah Bolton”
“Sarah R. Bolton, President”
“The president said”
“Assistant Professor Maria Smith”
“Maria Smith, Assistant Professor”
“department Chair Jerome Wiesner”

academic year

When indicating an academic year that spans a calendar year, use all four numbers for both years, separated by an en dash (–), not a hyphen (-).

Examples:

“The 2025–2026 academic year”
Not: “2025-26” or “’25-’26”

addresses

Abbreviate the words avenue (Ave.), boulevard (Blvd.) and street (St.) when they include a house or building number and spell out when they do not. Also spell out when in direct quotes. Do not abbreviate road, lane, circle or court even with an address.

Examples:

“The college is at 375 Church St.”
“The college is on Church Street.” 
Evan said it again, “They live at 314 Church Street.”

alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni

Any individuals who have attended the college and completed the required number of credits may be considered alumni. Note that students who did not graduate are still considered to be alumni of the college. (See also class years; non degree holders and pronouns.). The forms shown are the feminine singular, masculine singular, feminine plural and masculine plural. When referring to a group of more than one gender, use alumni. In general, a gender-neutral term is preferred, “alum” or “alums.” “Graduates” or “graduate” is an accepted alternative. Class year is denoted after the name.

Examples:

“They are MCLA alums.”
“She is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.”
“As an alum, Heather simmons ’88 has returned to campus numerous times.”
“MCLA welcomed its alumni from the Class of 2002 to the event.”

area codes

Area codes should be included with phone numbers. Use hyphens to offset the numbers. (See also phone numbers.)

Example: 413-555-5555

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Board of Trustees

Uppercase only when used in its entirety, lowercase otherwise. Capitalize trustee only when used before a name as a title, and lowercase after a name.

Examples:

“Trustee Sally Jones”
“Sally Jones, a Trustee”
“The Board of Trustees met last week.”
“The trustees were in town last week.”

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chair, co-chair, vice chair

Use the gender-neutral term “chair,” not “chairman” or “chairwoman.” “Co-chair” is hyphenated. “Vice chair” is not hyphenated. Capitalize when include before or after a person’s name. 

Examples:

“Committee Chair Bob Jones”
“Bob Jones, Committee Chair”

class

Capitalize only when referring to specific class years. Lowercase when indicating more than one class:

Examples:

“The Class of 2028”
“This year’s Reunion welcomes back the classes of 1985, 1986, 1995 and 1996.”
“I am really enjoying my class.”

class years

Students and alumni are identified with the last two numbers of their class year after their names. The punctuation placed before the class year is an apostrophe, signifying the omitted two digits of the year. The apostrophe should face away from the remaining two numbers ( ’08, not ‘08) and should be curly or “smart.”  See below for examples of handling couples and alumni status. (See also names.)

If one of the two people in a couple is featured in the article, list them first, otherwise list the names alphabetically.

“Kristi Marcus Williams ’00” and Paul Williams ’98”
“Liz Mills ’93 and Michelle Gordon” (Liz is the featured subject.)

Do not use a comma between a student’s name and their class/graduation year. People who attended Whitman but did not graduate are treated as alumni, unless they have requested to be unaffiliated. They are treated as members of the class in which they entered:

curriculum vitae

Spell out on first reference. “CV” is acceptable on second reference. “Curricula vitae” or “CVs” for plural.

Example: “Kristina Proctor ’00 ran the Boston marathon.”

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dean

Capitalize when used as a title. Do not capitalize when intended as a description. 

Examples:

“Dean Emily Jenkins “
“Emily Jenkins, Dean”

departments

The department's full formal name should be capitalized. Leave the department name uppercase if referring to the official department name in a commonly accepted way. If referring generally to subject matter, do not capitalize the name.

Examples:

“The Department of Graduate and Continuing Education is located in Eldridge Hall.”
“The Computer Science Department will offer a virtual demo.”
“Staff from Human Resources will be aavailable for questions.”
“Leticia Orsetti is a history professor at MCLA.”

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ellipsis

Constructed with three periods (with no spaces between them) and one space before and after as shown here: ( ... ) Use an ellipsis to indicate the deletion of word(s) when condensing quotes, texts and documents.

emerita, emeritus, emeritae, emeriti

This title indicates that an individual has retired but retains his or her rank or title. The forms shown are feminine, masculine, feminine plural and masculine/mixed plural. When referring to a group of more than one gender, use emeriti. Capitalize when used in a verified formal title. 

Examples:

“Justin Rhoades, Professor Emeritus of Music”
“Professor Emeritus Justin Rhoades”

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gender-inclusive language

In general, terms that can apply to any gender are preferred. Avoid highlighting a person’s gender unless it is pertinent to the story. Always ask how a person identifies; do not assume. Do not use “ladies” or “gentlemen.” (See also alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni; boy, girl, child; chair, co-chair, vice chair; emerita, emeritus, emeritae, emeriti; female, woman; LGBTQIA+; male, man; pronouns; race, ethnicity, protected class; they, them, their; transgender. For more guidance, see AP Stylebook’s gender-neutral language and gender, sex and sexual orientation entries.)

graduate

“Alum of the college” is preferred to “graduate of the college,” except where needed for clarification. Do not use “grad” or “grads” in formal communication. (See alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni.)

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hyphens

Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words. Use of the hyphen is far from standardized. It is optional in most cases, a matter of taste, judgment and style sense. But the fewer hyphens the better; use them only when not using them causes confusion.

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majors

Capitalize the formal name of a program. The word “major” remains lowercase.

Examples:

“She is an English major.”
“He earned a Computer Science degree.”
“He is an Politics major.”
“They are in the Nursing program.”

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phone numbers

Always include area code with phone numbers and punctuate with hyphens. Do not include “1” before the area code. Do not use periods in place of hyphens. Do not use parentheses around the area code: “509-527-1485.”

president

Uppercase when used before the name in the formal sense. Lowercase when used in reference to the position or the individual holding it. (See also titles.)

Examples:

“President James F. Birge”
“The president was meeting with students.”

professor

Capitalize a faculty member’s professorial title when it appears either before or after the person’s name. Do not use “professor” as a generic title; it is an earned academic rank. If you are unsure of a person’s official academic rank, use “instructor.” Do not use any “professor” rank as a courtesy title on second reference (“Associate Professor Smith ..."). Do not abbreviate professor titles:

“Associate Professor Vanessa Smith”
“Joe Collins, Clinical Assistant Professor”
program The formal/official name of a program is capitalized. Lowercase when referring to generic subject matter in the program. Only capitalize “program” if it is part of a formal name:

“She is a student in the Environmental Studies program.”
“She is majoring in Environmental Studies.”
“The Outdoor Program is located in the Reid Campus Center. The program has lots of equipment for rent.”
pronouns When writing about individuals, ask/confirm pronouns if possible. When gender is unknown or unspecified, it is acceptable to use “they/them/their” as a gender-neutral singular pronoun to avoid awkward constructions. Do not refer to pronouns as “preferred” or “chosen.” Avoid using the phrase “he or she.” Do not refer to a person as “it/its” unless by request. It is generally not necessary to call out a person’s pronouns in narrative, but it is appropriate to identify them on people’s bios with their approval. (See also gender-inclusive language.)

“When your student comes home for the holidays, ask them about their classes.”
“Kylie Sheridan ‘22 majored in Biology. They are currently attending medical school.”

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quotation marks

Always use curly quotes, also referred to as typographer’s quotes (‘ ’ “ ”) for written copy. Punctuation goes inside quotation marks.

Example:

“Whitman is great,” they said. “I love all of my classes—and my professors.”

Quotation marks can be used to introduce an unfamiliar or foreign word or a word used in an ironical sense. Avoid arbitrarily placing words inside quotation marks, as it can unintentionally change the meaning and make it imply something else.

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residence halls

MCLA students live in residence areas. Do not use “dorm” or “dormitory” to refer to these spaces. Do not capitalize “residence area.” Capitalize the name of the hall in all uses. 

Example: “They live in the Bershire Towers, one of the other residence areas”

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times

Lowercase with two periods in “a.m.” or “p.m.” Use a colon to separate hours from minutes. When showing a span of time, use an en dash (–), not a hyphen (-), if it is within a.m. or p.m. If it crosses between morning and afternoon, indicate with “to.”

Examples:

“The event is 10–11 a.m.”
“The meeting is at 1:30 p.m.”
“The office hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.”
“Noon” is preferred to “12 p.m.”
“Midnight” is preferred to “12 a.m.”

titles

Uppercase if preceding a name and lowercase when following a name. Never capitalize a stand alone title. Spell out titles like “associate,” “professor” and “assistant.” (See also doctor, Ph.D.)

Examples:

“Jack Black, dean”
“Dean Jack Black”
“The dean said classes were canceled.”

they, them, their

Acceptable to use as a singular or plural gender-neutral pronoun when gender is unknown or unspecified; avoid using “he or she.” Individuals may also identify as “they/them/their.” (See also pronouns.)

Examples:

“When your student comes home for the holidays, ask them about their classes.”
“Kylie Sheridan ‘22 majored in biology. They are currently attending medical school.”

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