Alumnus, Alumna, Alumni, Alumnae
The word “alumnus” indicates a man who has attended or graduated from a school; an “alumna” is a woman who has done so. When referring to a group of men and women who have attended or graduated from a school or to more than one alumnus, use the word “alumni.” When referring to an exclusively female group, use the word “alumnae.” Do not use the phrase “alumni/ae” to refer to mixed groups.
Alumni Class Years
When identifying current students or alumni by their class years, the two-digit year is preceded by an apostrophe. Do not insert a comma before the year.
Right: John Smith ’87, Jane Doe ’00
Wrong: John Smith, ’87, Jane Doe, ’00
Identify alumni who have changed their names since birth, through marriage or otherwise, as follows: first name/birth name/present last name/class year. Do not set off birth names with parentheses.
Right: Jane Doe Smith ’70
Wrong: Jane (Doe) Smith ’70
Identify alumni couples who share a last name as follows: first partner’s first name/birth name (if different)/ and class year followed by second partner’s first name/birth name/the couple’s present last name/and second partner’s class year.
Right: John ’47 and Jane Doe Smith ’45
Wrong: John and Jane Doe Smith ’47, ’45
Right: John Smith ’90 and Jane Doe-Smith ’90
Academic Departments, Divisions, and Disciplines
Capitalize the full, formal names of academic departments, faculties, and divisions. Do not capitalize the names of academic disciplines.
Right: the Department of History, the History Department
Right: She teaches mathematics.
Right: She became the academic administrative assistant of the Mathematics Department in 2001.
Right: He presented his findings to the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Faculty, one of the five divisions of the college’s academic program.
Academic Titles
Academic ranks and titles are specific and not interchangeable. It is not appropriate to bestow the title “Professor” upon someone who holds the rank of instructor — or vice versa. A person is “Professor of,” “Associate Professor of,” or “Assistant Professor of” a discipline or “Instructor in” a discipline.
Right: Associate Professor of Biology Jane Doe
Right: Jane Doe, associate professor of biology, will be the keynote speaker.
Wrong: Jane Doe is Associate Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for the Study of UFOs.
Right: Instructor in English William Shakespeare
Wrong: Instructor of English William Shakespeare
Exception: Titles of the holders of named professorial chairs are always capitalized in full, whether they appear before or after the holder’s name:
Right: Anton Armstrong ’78, the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music
Right: Tosdal Professor of Music Anton Armstrong ’78
Note: Never use courtesy titles (Dr., Mr., Ms., etc.)
Commas
Use commas to separate elements in a series, and do put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series.
Right: The flag is red, white, and blue.
When “etc.” is used at the end of a series (and it should be used sparingly), set it off with commas.
Right: The professor discussed dates, tests, extra help, etc., during her opening remarks.
Use a comma for most figures greater than 999. The major exceptions are: street addresses, broadcast frequencies, room numbers, serial numbers, telephone numbers, and years.
Commas always go inside quotation marks.
Right: “When we arrive,” she said, “I want to go snorkeling.”
Emeritus, Emerita, Emeriti, Emeritae
These titles are an honorable recognition of the service of those who have contributed substantially to the life and mission of the college. For faculty at St. Olaf, it normally is recommended by the dean of the college and conferred by the Board of Regents upon retirement. The word “emeritus” indicates a man who has retired from his rank or title; an “emerita” is a woman who has done so. When referring to a group of men and women who have retired from their rank or title or to more than one emeritus, use the word “emeriti.” When referring exclusively to a female group, use the word “emeritae.” The term should be included in academic titles as follows:
Right: Professor Emeritus of Music John Doe
Right: Professor Emerita of Biology Jane Doe
Right: Associate Professor Emeritus of English Jack Doe
Times
Use figures except for noon and midnight. A figure alone without zeroes is sufficient for the top of the hour. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes. Do not put a 12 before noon and midnight. Do not omit the periods in a.m. and p.m.
Right: 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., midnight
Wrong: 2:00 p.m., 5pm
Ensembles, Teams, etc
The words “band,” “choir,” “orchestra,” “football,” “soccer,” etc., are not capitalized on second reference to one of those organizations.
Right: A member of the St. Olaf Band, he was pursuing an independent major through the Center for Integrative Studies.
Right: A member of the band, he could usually be found at the center.
Wrong: A member of the Band, he was also a familiar sight at the Center.
Numbers in dates
Always use Arabic figures, without “st,” “nd,” “rd” or “th.”
Right: October 16
Wrong: October 16th
Publication and other titles
Italicize the names of newspapers and magazines and the titles of books, journals, movies, television and radio programs, photographs, plays, art exhibitions, and collected works when they are in text; enclose the titles of articles, poems, and episodes of television programs in quotation marks. Fact-check the names of all magazines, newspapers, programs, etc.
Semesters
Do not capitalize fall semester or spring semester; Interim, however, is always capitalized.
URL’s and Web Addresses
When including a URL in text in print, set the address in lowercase letters and italicize. Do not put “www” at the beginning of URLs. It isn’t needed when typing in an address and looks antiquated.
Titles
In running text, titles are capitalized only if they directly precede the name of the individual. A title following the name of an individual or a title by itself is not capitalized. However, titles used in event listings or programs are capitalized in all instances.
Right: President Lars W. Boe will speak at the event.
Right: Ole E. Rølvaag, professor of Norwegian, will speak at the event.
Right: The president, Clemens M. Granskou, will speak at the event.
Right: The crowd stood as the president of the United States entered.
Right:
Susan Rundell Singer, President
Matthew Marohl, College Pastor
Mary Walczak, Professor of Chemistry
Exception: Titles of the holders of named professorial chairs are always capitalized in full, whether they appear before or after the holder’s name:
Right: Anton Armstrong ’78, the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music
Right: Tosdal Professor of Music Anton Armstrong ’78
Right: Anton Armstrong ’78 is the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music
Exception: Some words identifying occupations or professions should not be capitalized even if they precede the name. Do not capitalize in instances such as:
Right: attorney Clarence Darrow
Right: pianist Van Cliburn
Right: music faculty member F. Melius Christiansen basketball coach Pat Summitt