Capitalization

Capitalize sparingly. The fewer capital letters you use, the more they stand out. In texts, limit capitalization to proper nouns and formal names of departments or people. See also Academic and Administrative Titles and Things, below.

Academic and Administrative Titles
Capitalize the principal words in a title that appears before the name of a particular person. Don't capitalize a title elsewhere.

Vice President Teresa Rungsopinkul


but:
Teresa Rungsopinkul, vice president for (not of) public affairs and development


Assistant Professor Keith Kirby


but: 
the assistant professor or Keith Kirby, assistant professor

Academic Degrees and Honors
Don't capitalize general references to academic degrees and honors. Do capitalize and punctuate the abbreviated degree after someone's name. See also Academics.

I have bachelor of arts and master of fine arts degrees.


but: 
Korinna Goudy, D.M.A.

Addresses on Envelopes
The United States Postal Service requires that addresses appear on envelopes in all-capital letters and, except for the hyphenated ZIP code, without punctuation.

OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS
1266 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
EUGENE OR 97403-1266

Groups of People
The names of racial, linguistic, tribal, religious, and other groups of people are capitalized. Don't hyphenate them. The following list is
not exhaustive.

African American or Black

Alaska Native

American Indian or Native American

Asian (from the Far East, Southeast Asia, India, China, or Korea)

Asian American

Caucasian or White

Chicana or Chicano

Hispanic

Latina or Latino

Mexican American

North African

Pacific Islander

people of color

people with disabilities (not the handicapped or the disabled)

Greeks (capitalized) are both people from Greece and members of fraternities and sororities. The latter belong to Greek-letter organizations.

Places
Capitalize north, south, east, and west when they are part of specific geographic regions or official names of organizations. Don't capitalize general compass directions.

SPECIFIC the Far West the Western hemisphere the West Eugene Neighborhood Association

GENERAL the west entrance the western United States west Eugene

Room
The word room is often unnecessary in addresses. If you use it before a room number or after a room name, it should be capitalized.

101 Chapman Hall or Room 101 Chapman Hall


Walnut Room, Erb Memorial Union

Buildings and Spaces
Only a few buildings include the word "building" in their official names (e.g., Education Building, Music Building). Don't confuse names of administrative units with names of buildings.

ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS UO Libraries School of Law

BUILDING NAMES Knight Library William Knight Law Center




SPACES
Formal names of spaces are authorized by the UO president.


Dave Rowe Room (in Knight Library)


Leona E. Tyler Conference Room (in Chapman Hall)


Paul Olum Atrium (in Willamette Hall)

Things
Capitalize only the formal names of departments, institutes, schools, centers, and government agencies. Don't capitalize words that aren't part of the formal names.

FORMAL Center for Asian and Pacific Studies School of Music Department of Political Science Oregon Legislative Assembly

INFORMAL the center the music school or the school the political science department or the department the state legislature





the Summer Session office


but: 
summer session (the June-through-August academic session)

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