Our goal is not perfection; our goal is to deliver clear and compelling content to our audiences. When we do that, we support the missions of the Indiana University Alumni Association and Indiana University Foundation. This style guide offers useful, user-friendly direction that adds value to but does not duplicate IU brand guidelines.
Most answers to your style questions can be found in the IU Editorial Style Guide and IU Spelling & Capitalization rules sheet. This Marketing Style Guide can be used in tandem to clarify and provide further insight on matters particularly common for the IU Alumni Association and the IU Foundation.
If sufficient guidance is not provided in the aforementioned resources, consult the Associated Press Stylebook.
When in doubt, recast. In other words: Don’t fight. Rewrite!
Note:
We generally adhere to IU style, except as noted below.
As good partners to all IU units, campuses, programs, people, and partners—internal and external—we will honor their style preferences (e.g., how they prefer their name to be abbreviated; whether a company uses Inc. in its official name, etc.) except when doing so could harm our reputation or cause confusion for the audience.
In special event or honor roll materials, where donor or recipient preference is of the utmost importance, consistency of style may need to be put aside.
Marketing style may differ from communications/press release style or formal style, such as that used on event invitations or presidential materials.
While IU editorial style uses periods when abbreviating academic degrees (e.g., B.A.), the IU Foundation and IU Alumni Association do NOT. (In all other instances of abbreviations, we follow IU style.) The degree abbreviation should be followed by an apostrophe, followed by the last two numbers in the year that the degree was received—no spaces.
Khalid Mohammad, MD’83, has returned to the IU School of Medicine as a faculty member.
Use a comma to separate multiple degrees.
Mary Jane Johansen, BFA’74, JD’77, recently published her first book.
With historical degrees, it may be necessary to write out the full year.
Martin Frisch, BS (1892), was captain of the intramural hopscotch team.
When it is necessary to also specify the major, use a comma after the degree year.
Lewis Cho, BS’17, biology, is now pursuing his PhD at the IU School of Medicine.
If it is necessary to note the academic degree of someone who is not a graduate of Indiana University, abbreviate but do not include the year with the abbreviation.
Professor Tamika Mahoney, PhD, received a grant of $300,000 to conduct field research.
Better yet, specify what the person’s degree specialty is.
Professor Tamika Mahoney, who has a PhD in anthropology, received a grant of $300,000 to conduct field research.
Honorary degrees issued by Indiana University are handled in the same way.
Meryl Streep, LHD’04, visited the IU Cinema last month.
IU Style Expansions, Clarifications, and Emphases
Below are style guidelines that complement the IU Editorial Style Guide.
In general, do not use a space between the letters and periods where first and middle names are both abbreviated.
Acceptable and sometimes necessary to avoid noninclusive or nonbinary language (e.g., “his or her”) and provide clear, concise copy for readers.
For guidance on this, we’ve turned to the AP Stylebook “they, them, their” entry, which advises:
In most cases, a plural pronoun should agree in number with the antecedent: The children love the books their uncle gave them. They/them/their is acceptable in limited cases as a singular and/or gender-neutral pronoun, when alternative wording is overly awkward or clumsy. However, rewording usually is possible and always is preferable. Clarity is a top priority; gender-neutral use of a singular they is unfamiliar to many readers. We do not use other gender-neutral pronouns such as xe or ze.
Usage example: A singular they might be used when an anonymous source’s gender must be shielded and other wording is overly awkward: The person feared for their own safety and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Arguments for using they/them as a singular sometimes arise with an indefinite pronoun (anyone, everyone, someone) or unspecified/unknown gender (a person, the victim, the winner).
Examples of rewording:
All the class members raised their hands (instead of everyone raised their hands).
The foundation gave grants to anyone who lost a job this year (instead of anyone who lost their job).
Police said the victim would be identified after relatives are notified (instead of after their relatives are notified or after his or her relatives are notified).
Lottery officials said the winner could claim the prize Tuesday (instead of their or his or her prize).
In stories about people who identify as neither male nor female or ask not to be referred to as he/she/him/her: Use the person’s name in place of a pronoun, or otherwise reword the sentence, whenever possible. If they/them/their use is essential, explain in the text that the person prefers a gender-neutral pronoun. Be sure that the phrasing does not imply more than one person. Examples of rewording:
Hendricks said the new job is a thrill (instead of Hendricks said Hendricks is thrilled about the new job or Hendricks said they are thrilled about the new job).
Lowry’s partner is Dana Adams, an antiques dealer. They bought a house last year (instead of Lowry and Lowry’s partner bought a house last year or Lowry and their partner bought a house last year).
When they is used in the singular, it takes a plural verb: Taylor said they need a new car. (Again, be sure it’s clear from the context that only one person is involved.)
From the capitalization entry in the IU Editorial Style Guide:
As a general rule, official names are capitalized; unofficial, informal, shortened, or generic names are not. This rule applies to names of offices, buildings, schools, departments, programs, institutes, centers, and so on. Therefore, the noun in a phrase such as the center, the institute, or the new museum is not capitalized. So:
IU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics; IU Athletics; athletics department; IU Varsity Club; Varsity Club (though we prefer to always include “IU” in front of the name); NOTE: athletics team descriptors are not capitalized, so: IU men’s basketball; men’s and women’s swimming and diving; etc.
IU Crowdfunding; the crowdfunding campaign
Indiana University; the university
the Chicago Chapter of the IU Alumni Association; the chapter
the IU Alumni Association Board of Managers; the board
the Trustees of Indiana University; Indiana University Board of Trustees; the trustees
the Department of Physics; the physics department; the department
the class of 1955
the Kinsey Institute; the institute
the IU Alumni Association; the alumni association
the IU Foundation; the foundation (BUT: We try to avoid the generic name in favor of always including “IU”)
Certain instances may call for secondary references that are not official full names to still be capitalized, such as:
Cindy Simon-Skjodt Assembly Hall; Simon-Skjodt Assembly Hall; Assembly Hall
the Kelley School of Business; Kelley School, the school
the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University; IU Eskenazi Museum of Art; the art museum
Mathers Museum of World Cultures; Mathers Museum, the museum
Certain entities capitalize the generic name when lack of capitalization would render the term so generic that meaning could be lost. For example:
the College (when referring to the College of Arts and Sciences)
the Indiana Memorial Union; the Union
the Indiana University Cinema; the Cinema
Capitalize when it is the style of a particular unit, program, or event to capitalize certain words that wouldn’t usually be capitalized, as in:
The Media School (the “The” is always capitalized in running copy; even when not at the beginning of a sentence)
Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox Arboretum; Cox Arboretum; the Arboretum
Arts & Humanities (when referring to the collection of Bloomington arts and humanities entities, including the IU Cinema, IU Auditorium, Mathers Museum, WTIU/WFIU, etc.)
Capitalize when it’s the official name of a recurring celebration or event, but not when using a generic term or phrase. Examples include:
IU Commencement; graduation
Homecoming
IU Indianapolis Campus Campaign; Campus Campaign; the campaign
New Year’s Day, the new year
Use ONLY ONE space after a period.
No space on either side of a dash (en, em) or hyphen. In print, it is common and acceptable for designers to add a thin space on either side of a dash.
The building—one of our oldest—will be reroofed. (em dash)
Javier started school as a non–English speaker. (en dash)
The university-wide policy goes into effect in 2019. (hyphen)
Leave a space between each period in an ellipsis. Because an ellipsis is a stand-in for a word or multiple words, use one space between the surrounding words and the ellipsis.
Herman B Wells said, “Last words are always inadequate . . . as another class leaves.”
In general, in running copy use “the” before the name of IU entities (e.g., the Indiana University Foundation) but not with Indiana University alone.
The Indiana University Foundation raises private support for Indiana University.
Omit “the” when using the official name as an adjective (e.g., IU Foundation scholarships), or in instances where brevity is prized (such as a headline or call to action).
NOTE: Do not use “the” preceding Lilly Endowment Inc. So, a sentence might read: “Lilly Endowment Inc. is pleased to support a new scholarship opportunity.”
Because the IU Editorial Style Guide does not have an applicable entry, we are deferring to the AP Stylebook, which advises:
With the exception of email and esports, electronic terms are hyphenated: e-newsletter, e-book, e-reader, e-commerce. When necessary to capitalize (i.e., when part of a headline or title), capitalize as follows: Email, Esports, E-Newsletter, E-Book, E-Reader, E-Commerce.
See web and web addresses entries in the IU Editorial Style Guide for related guidance.
Questions?
As is necessary with any style guide, this is a living document. If you have any questions or would like to request that a clarification be added to this guide, please reach out to the Advancement Marketing team at adviu@indiana.edu.
IUAA and IUF addresses
Indiana UniversityAlumni Association
1000 E. 17th Street,Bloomington, IN 47408 812-855-4822 or 800-824-3044
301 University Blvd., Suite 1031,Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-274-8828
Indiana University Foundation
1500 N. State Road 46 Bypass,Bloomington, IN 47408 812-855-8311 or 800-558-8311
301 University Blvd., Suite 1031,Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-274-3711
