Mount Holyoke News AP Style Specifics

These guidelines provide our journalists with an A-Z guide on Mount Holyoke-centric terminology in order to produce articles with the proper punctuation, capitalization and abbreviations.

A

• Abbey Memorial Chapel

• ableism

• accent marks 

  • The AP Stylebook says to refrain from using accent marks in almost all cases. In MHN, refrain from using accents on words unless in a person’s name or if directly quoting in a language that uses them. In that case, be sure to place the accents consistently and correctly.

• Disability Services

  • disability (if a regular noun, not talking about MHC’s specific service)

• alum

  • alumna (feminine singular)

  • alumnae (feminine plural)

  • alumni (plural with at least one male)

  • alum (gender neutral singular)

  • alums (gender neutral plural) for all plural instances

• Alumnae Association

• Amherst College

• Archives & Special Collections

  • Shorthand is the Archives

    • Mount Holyoke College Archives on first reference, the Archives for second and thereafter

• Asian Center for Empowerment

  • ACE as an acronym

• Auxiliary Services

C

• Career Development Center (CDC)

  • Career Development Center on first reference, the CDC on second and thereafter

• Carr Laboratory

• Chapin Auditorium

• Chief Diversity Officer

• cisgender 

  • cis man

  • cis woman

• the Circulation Desk

• Ciruti Center

• Clapp Laboratory

• class years

  • The AP Stylebook says to capitalize class, as in Class of 2020. In MHN, leave the word class lowercase in such usages.

• Cleveland Hall

• Cochary Pub & Kitchen

• Commencement Weekend*

• Community Advisor

• Community-Based Learning (CBL)

  • Community-Based Learning for first reference, CBL for second and thereafter

• Community Center

  • The Community Center consists of the Dining Commons, Blanchard Hall and the Great Room

• Convocation

• Counseling Service

E

• Election Day

• Eliana Ortega Cultural Center

• Eliot House

• Equestrian Center

• emeriti

  • Professor Emeritus (masculine)

  • Professor Emerita (feminine)

  • Professor Emerit (gender neutral)

  • emeriti (plural)

G

• Gamble Auditorium

• gender

  • Avoid using the phrases people who identify as men, people who identify as women or people who identify as nonbinary; instead, just use men, women and nonbinary people.

• gender-diverse women’s college (GDWC)

  • For colleges like MHC that admit “female, transgender and nonbinary students” (instead of historically women’s college or women’s college).

• genderfluid 

  • gender fluidity

• gender-nonconforming

• genderqueer 

• Gettell Amphitheater*

• Gloria Anzaldúa

• Grab ’n Go

• Gracious Dinner

I

• Indigenous

  • Indigenous people: Use when discussing Indigenous people in a global context

  • Indigenous Americans: Use when discussing those indigenous to the continental U.S.

    • Try to be specific about what tribes, nations, regions, etc. you’re covering, if possible

  • Hawaiians: Use when discussing people indigenous to Hawai‘i – do not use to refer to nonindigenous residents of Hawai‘i

• Information Commons

• Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

  • Interlibrary Loan upon first reference, ILL for second and thereafter

K

• Kendade Hall

• Kendall Sports & Dance Complex

M

• M&Cs

• Makerspace

• majors and programs of study

  • languages (a French major, a Spanish minor, etc) always capitalized; most others lowercase

    • politics major, astronomy minor, music major

    • See also: Africana studies minor, South Asian studies major, Jewish studies minor

  • See this for a list of majors, minors, and other academic programs offered at the College

• Mary Lyon Hall

  • the New York room

• Mary Woolley Hall

• the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives

• Media Services

• the MEWS

  • Mediated Education Work Space

• Mi Gente

• the Miller Worley Center for the Environment

• MoHo

• Moodle

• Mountain Day

• Mount Holyoke Athletics

  • But the athletics department

• Mount Holyoke College

  • the College

• Mount Holyoke College Art Museum

• Mount Holyoke News (MHN)

  • the MHN when referring to the physical newspaper

  • MHN when referring to the organization

• MyMountHolyoke

P

• Pageant Green (the one in front of the Amphitheater)

• Pangy Day

• Peer Health Educator

• people

  • Danielle Holley

  • Jorge

  • Kijua Sanders-McMurtry

  • Marcella Runell Hall

  • Mary Lyon

• percent

  • The AP Stylebook recommends using the percent sign (%).

• Pioneer Valley

• Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA)

  • Pioneer Valley Transit Authority for first reference, PVTA for second and thereafter.

• PLUMS

• positions (capitalize only when titular)

  • president

  • dean of faculty

  • dean of students

  • vice president for academic affairs

  • vice president for equity and inclusion

  • vice president for student life

  • chief diversity officer

• Pratt Music Hall

• President’s House

• professor

  • If titular, like “Professor X said…” then capitalize Professor

  • If not titular (e.g. Chris Pyle, professor of politics, or Kavita Khory, a politics professor) then NO capitalization

• Public Safety and Service department

  • formerly Campus Police

T

• tarot

  • Capitalize the full names of Major Arcana: The Sun, The Chariot, Strength, Death

  • Leave the article uncapitalized in Minor Arcana: the Ten of Cups, the Queen of Coins, the Page of Swords

  • Do not capitalize “reversed”: The Devil reversed, Temperance reversed

• The Summit

  • MHN’s official podcast. Written as The Summit, with a capital T and S.

• Trans-

• transfeminine

• transgender

  • Use transgender on first reference, shorthand trans only on second.

• transmasculine

• trans people

  • trans man

  • trans woman

U

• Upper Lake

• the University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • the University of Massachusetts Amherst upon first reference, UMass Amherst for second and thereafter

V

• Vespers

Z

• Zoom

• Zowie Banteah Cultural Center