quotation marks
Place outside commas and periods and inside semicolons and colons. Question marks and exclamation points are placed inside quotation marks if they are part of the quote and outside if they are not. See "composition titles" for guidelines on using quotation marks with titles.
RA
Acronym for resident assistant; no periods. Plural: RAs or resident assistants.
regions
Lowercase compass directions north, south, east and west (including northern, southern, eastern and western) when not part of a proper name. Capitalize in reference to a proper name or region: the Northeast, but not northeastern; the West Coast, but not western Ohio.
Central New York and Upstate New York are considered "widely known sections" per AP style and are capitalized.
residence hall
Not dormitory or dorm. However, in certain cases where alumni are recalling their Hamilton experiences, dorm or dorm room are acceptable.
résumé
Two accents.
reunion, Reunion Weekend, Reunions '08
Capitalize Reunion Weekend and Reunions '08 when referring to the event. Lowercase all others: We celebrated our 35th reunion. He served as reunion planning chair. We returned to the Hill for Reunion Weekend. He volunteered on the reunion gift committee.
R.S.V.P.
Capitalize. Use periods. Since R.S.V.P. means "please reply," avoid the redundant "Please R.S.V.P."
seal
See "Hamilton graphic identity."
seasons
Lowercase spring, summer, winter, fall. Exceptions are part of a formal name: Alternative Spring Break.
secondly, thirdly
Do not use — there's no "firstly." Use first, second, third.
semesters
Lowercase: fall semester, spring semester.
semiannually
Use semiannually instead of biannually to mean twice a year. This avoids confusion since biennially means every other year.
semicolon
To clarify in a series, use the semicolon before "and": Among the speakers were Doug Weldon, the Stone Professor of Psychology; Steven Yao, associate professor of English; and Lydia Hamessley, associate professor of music. Place outside of the quotation marks.
Senior Fellow, Senior Fellowship
Capitalize.
Senior Gift
Capitalize when referring to the College's Senior Gift Campaign.
Senior Program
Capitalize.
senior thesis, senior project
Lowercase these components of the Senior Program.
song titles
Use quotation marks. See "composition titles."
Spectator, The
Hamilton student newspaper. "The" is part of the title and should be capitalized and italicized.
spring break
Lowercase except in the case of the program Alternative Spring Break.
state abbreviations
Use state abbreviations (not postal abbreviations) in prose, except in the rare instance where a complete address is published with a zip code. Do not abbreviate states when not accompanied by a city: He was born in New Jersey. He was born in Freehold, N.J. Following are state abbreviations to be used in text; postal abbreviations are in parentheses:
| Ala. (AL) | Kan. (KS) | Nev. (NV) | R.I. (RI) |
| Ariz. (AZ) | Ky. (KY) | N.H. (NH) | S.C. (SC) |
| Ark. (AR) | La. (LA) | N.J. (NJ) | S.D. (SD) |
| Calif. (CA) | Md. (MD) | N.M. (NM) | Tenn. (TN) |
| Colo. (CO) | Mass. (MA) | N.Y. (NY) | Vt. (VT) |
| Conn. (CT) | Mich. (MI) | N.C. (NC) | Va. (VA) |
| Del. (DE) | Minn. (MN) | N.D. (ND) | Wash. (WA) |
| Fla. (FL) | Miss. (MS) | Okla. (OK) | W.Va. (WV) |
| Ga. (GA) | Mo. (MO) | Ore. (OR) | Wis. (WI) |
| Ill. (IL) | Mont. (MT) | Pa. (PA) | Wyo. (WY) |
| Ind. (IN) | Neb. (NE) |
Do not abbreviate: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. See "comma, after states."
study abroad, study-abroad programs
Use hyphen only when using as a compound modifier. Also off-campus study program.
student-athlete
Hyphenate.
telephone numbers
See "phone numbers."
that, which
In general, use "which" when a clause could be omitted without leaving the noun it modifies incomplete or without altering the meaning. Precede with a comma: The paper, which George wrote, outlined his summer research project. Use "that" when a clause is limiting or defining. Do not use a comma: George wrote a paper that outlined his summer research project. Not: George wrote a paper, which outlined his summer research project.
"The" in building names
Use of "the" preceding official names of campus buildings is in most cases unnecessary (with the exception of The Little Pub): He lived in Dunham Residence Hall. The students grabbed lunch at Howard Diner. Matriculation is held in Kirkland Cottage.
On second reference, or in the case of buildings without official names, use of "the" helps with readability: They gathered in the Chapel to hear a lecture. The basketball game will take place in the field house. His lab was in the Science Center.
theatre
Not theater, except Minor Theater.
times
See "dates, months and times."
titles
before a name Capitalize titles of Hamilton employees. Do not set off by commas: Professor of Music Sam Pellman gave a lecture.
after a name Lowercase after an individual's name and set off by commas: Sam Pellman, professor of music, gave a lecture.
This rule applies to academic titles (Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics David Rideout; Instructor of History Chad Williams; Lecturer in Music Mike Cirmo; Teaching Fellow in French Fatma Said) and other Hamilton titles: Master Mechanic Jeff Smith was promoted. Jeff Smith, master mechanic, was promoted. Chairman of the Board of Trustees A.G. Lafley addressed alumni. A.G. Lafley, chairman of the Board of Trustees, addressed alumni.
standing alone without a name Lowercase: The president gave a speech.
Capitalization rules differ for endowed chairholders. See "faculty chairs."
toward
Not towards.
trustees
See "Board of Trustees."
