See Titles for rules about professional and academic titles.
Names, Associations, Conferences, and Official Policies
As a general rule, official names are capitalized. Unofficial or shortened names are not. This applies to offices, buildings, departments and programs, as well as committees and boards, symposia, conferences, course titles, forms, applications, and so on. For example, the Board of Trustees is shortened to the board. The Residential Life Committee becomes the committee. The Department of French—the French department; Middlebury College Museum of Art—the museum; the Common Application for Admission—admission application.
Exceptions: References to Middlebury College, when shortened, are always capped—College; Language Schools when shortened is Schools; Chinese School when shortened is School, which applies to the other Language Schools as well; Monterey Institute of International Studies when shortened is the Institute; the Middlebury Initiative when shortened is the Initiative.
Names of official policies, such as Institutional Diversity and Undergraduate Honor System, should be capitalized. However, when the concept is being discussed, use the lowercase. Middlebury College is strongly committed to promoting diversity on campus. A strict honor system is enforced at the College.
In running text, lowercase a the that precedes a name:
The Underhille Foundation
When you visit the Underhille Foundation, please check their address.
Holidays
Capitalize holidays and recurring observances:
Winter Carnival, Thanksgiving, Commencement, Baccalaureate, Convocation
Do not capitalize seasons and academic periods:
winter term, fall admission, summer break.
Grades
Capitalize the letters used for grades and grade names. Do not place quotation marks around grades.
A, B, C, D, F, Pass, Incomplete. Grade of B. Grades of B or Bs.
Headlines
Capitalize all words except: articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), prepositions (through, on, in, to, etc.), and the to in infinitives.
A River Runs through It.
Exception: Knowledge Without Boundaries
Always capitalize the first and last word, no matter what part of speech it is.
Trying to Find an Answer to But
With hyphenated words: Cap both elements. The only exception is if the second element is one of the parts of speech listed above—articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), prepositions (through, on, in, to, etc.)—or the modifiers flat, sharp, and natural.
Self-Sustaining Economics
F-sharp Concerto
Concerto in F-Sharp
Side-by-Side Logistics
A word with a prefix: This is basically one word, not two, so the second element is not capped unless it is a proper noun or proper adjective.
Anti-intellectual Attitudes on the Increase
Non-Christian Organization Donates Books
Original Quotes
When quoting original material, use the capitalization system of the original, even if it does not conform to College style.
As the soldier explained 100 years ago, “We have forgiven Him and the Little Children who did not know what to expect from our Party.”
Exception: when a quote is used as an integral part of a sentence, the initial cap in the original may be dropped.
In his public statements he warns that “we have forgiven Him and the Little Children.”