Alpha Chi Omega Style Guide

ALPHA CHI OMEGA Alpha Chi Omega Style Guide UPDATED 1.7.2021 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE 3 GENERAL GUIDELINES 4 CONSCIOUS AND INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE 9 COVID-19 GUIDANCE 11 DESIGN 13 PUNCTUATION 15 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 20 STAFF, VOLUNTEER AND OFFICER TITLES 30 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 36 SOCIAL MEDIA STYLE 55 SUGGESTED REFERENCES 57 UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 2 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE PREFACE This style guide should be used when producing any document or publication under the auspices of Alpha Chi Omega in order to ensure accuracy and consistency. The consistency this guide provides is intended to establish a standard of excellence by demonstrating to our members, potential new members, professional counterparts at like organizations and others with whom we are associated that Alpha Chi Omega is a professional entity with professional employees. In addition to using this guide for external purposes, the rules should be followed when circulating internal documents. This will give you the opportunity to memorize and become more familiar with the appropriate styles. Always keep in mind, the impression you present to your internal coworkers should be one of high standards and capability— instilling trust in working as a team. Although this style guide touches on many issues, it is still very brief. Your second reference should be the governing documents of Alpha Chi Omega. If you are still unable to find your answers, you may use the AP Stylebook. Do not hesitate to utilize the marketing and communications staff as well. UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 3 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE GENERAL GUIDELINES ALPHA CHI OMEGA SPECIFICS The flower of the organization is the red carnation. The colors of the organization are scarlet and olive green. The open motto of the organization is “Together let us seek the heights.” There are no commas and no capitalization after the first word. Examples are as follows: Incorrect: “Together, let us seek the heights.” Incorrect: “Together, let us seek the Heights.” Incorrect: “Together Let Us Seek the Heights.” Correct: “Together let us seek the heights.” The five membership standards are as follows: • Academic interest • Character • Financial responsibility • Leadership ability • Personal development When referring to the five membership standards and/or the practices of Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, Inc. and its chapters, do not use the term criteria. Never, under any circumstance, should Alpha be split from Chi Omega at the end of a line of type. In Office products, you can create a nonbreaking space between Alpha and Chi by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Space on your keyboard. The following statistics are accurate as of December 2020: • Total active collegiate chapters: 145 • Total active alumnae chapters: 170 • Total initiated members: 294,000 • Total living members: 238,000 o Collegians: 19,000 o Alumnae: 218,000 UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 4 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE ALPHA CHI OMEGA ENTERPRISE The corporate name for each entity is Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, Inc.; Alpha Chi Omega Foundation, Inc.; Alpha Chi Omega National Housing Corporation; and Pearl Stone Partners, LLC. The name(s) should appear this way in any legal/official document. The corporate name should always be used when referencing the corporate entity. The corporate name does not have to be used in the following situations: • Use Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Chi Omega Foundation or Pearl Stone Partners after noted reference. An example is as follows: o Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, Inc. (hereinafter Alpha Chi Omega) • Use the names Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Chi Omega Foundation or Pearl Stone Partners in a document that is not of a legal/official nature. • On the second reference in a single document, you may use Foundation for Alpha Chi Omega Foundation, NHC for Alpha Chi Omega National Housing Corporation and PSP for Pearl Stone Partners. The four entities together compose the Enterprise. ALUMNAE/ALUMNI Always use alumna when referring to a singular female graduate. Always use alumnae when referring to multiple female graduates or a chapter of female alumnae. Always use alumnus when referring to a singular male graduate. Always use alumni when referring to multiple male graduates or a group of both genders. When using alumna or alumnae as an adjective, match the singularity or plurality to the noun it modifies due to the Latin root of the words. The exception to this is alumnae chapter, which always uses the plural alumnae. Examples are as follows: • Laura is an alumna initiate. • The three women are alumnae initiates. NEW MEMBERS Always refer to collegiate women in the recruitment process as potential new members (PNMs on second reference). In no instance should they be referred to as pledges. Alumnae members in the NAIP process should be referred to as potential alumnae members (PAMs on second reference). UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 5 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE Always refer to class years as (new) member class (MC on second reference or in social media captions). In no instance should they be referred to as pledge class or PC. REAL. STRONG. WOMEN. Unless it is being used as a tagline or in reference to our brand or branded programs/funds, it should be written as all lowercase letters with a comma after real and no punctuation between strong and women. For example: • My sisters are all real, strong women. When used as a tagline or in reference to our brand, it should have each word capitalized, with a period and a space after each word. It should also be accompanied on first reference or most prominent reference (e.g., a headline) by the registered trademark symbol ® in superscript after the period in Women; on all subsequent references in a singular document, the symbol can be dropped, as it provides no additional legal protections and only clutters up the rest of the document. • Real. Strong. Women.® • Real. Strong. Women.® Experience • Real. Strong. Women.® Fund NUMBERS/NUMERALS Spell out numbers one through nine and first through ninth. Use numerals for numbers 10 and above and 10th and above. Use numerals for all dates and measurements (including time in hours, minutes or seconds). Always spell out the numeral if it starts a sentence; however, do not spell out a year if it is at the beginning of a sentence. Examples are as follows: • Thirty cars were parked in the chapter house parking lot. • 1987 was a great year. Hyphenate large numbers that need to be spelled out. An example is as follows: • Twenty-five women attended the luncheon. Spell out amounts less than one and hyphenate. An example is as follows: • The room was two-thirds full. Do not use an apostrophe when referring to decades; however, use an apostrophe before the decade when using two numerals. UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 6 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE • She grew up in the 1960s. • The chapter was established in the ‘90s. Use numerals for recruitment scoring. An example is as follows: • The PNM received a 4 on the first day of recruitment. Use numerals for identifying steps in a sequence. Examples are as follows: • In step 3, make sure to notify the chapter president. • Step 1: Open the document and save it with a new name. Use numerals for all percentages, and use %. • So far, 8% of the new members have submitted their paperwork. WEBSITE AND EMAIL SPECIFICS When possible, use the following format for links to websites or other external locations: • Underline the link if it does not automatically underline when hyperlinked. Underlining should not be used in any other context so as to not impede accessibility. • Change the font color to blue if it does not automatically change. (Vega from our brand palette can be used.) When referring to a button in writing, use the formatting the button uses on the website. An example is as follows based on the donation button at the top of alphachiomega.org: • Click the DONATE button to make a gift to the Foundation. When referring to a link in writing, use the formatting the link uses on the website and put the link’s text in quotation marks. An example is as follows based on the homepage of alphachiomega.org: • Click “Find a Chapter” to search for chapters in your area. When referring to a website page in writing, capitalize the name of the page like a title. An example is as follows based on the homepage of alphachiomega.org: • Visit the About Us page to learn more about Alpha Chi Omega. When describing a series of buttons or pages to interact with on a website, you may use > with a space on either side of the symbol to describe the action path. An example is as follows. UPDATED 1.7.2021 PAGE 7 ALPHA CHI OMEGA STYLE GUIDE • To see a list of headquarters departments, go to alphachiomega.org > About Us > Headquarters Staff. PRONOUNS How to use language in the context of societal and fraternal discussions on gender is part of a continual conversation at Alpha Chi Omega. The following guidelines have been established: • Because Alpha Chi Omega accepts for membership all those who live and identify as women, we use the gendered pronouns she and her when referring generally to a member. An example is as follows: o If a member is concerned about dues, she should talk with her VP finance. • It may also be possible to rephrase sentence to avoid gendered pronouns by making the subjects plural. o If members are concerned about dues, they should talk with their VP finance. • When referring to someone who is part of a group of mixed genders (such as when there are male and female program facilitators, when referring to people on a campus outside of Alpha Chi Omega, etc.), use the singular they and their.

Load more