Baccalaureate Capitalize when referring to Oberlin’s Baccalaureate ceremony, held each year the day before Commencement. There is no need to capitalize when referring to the address given during the ceremony, baccalaureate services at other institutions, or when used to mean a bachelor’s degree.

bachelor’s degree See degrees, academic.

backward Not backwards.

baroque Do not capitalize; baroque is considered a cultural movement or style and is lowercased. Lowercase in Oberlin College materials/publications/digital/web sources. However, acceptable to capitalize for Conservatory of Music exclusive materials such as viewbooks, conservatory magazine, and concert programs.

Black See ethnic and racial designations.

best seller (n.), best-selling (adj.) Alumnus James McBride ’79 is a best-selling author. Song Yet Sung is a best seller.

biannual happening twice a year.

bias-free language Avoid language that is biased toward race, ethnicity, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, religion, or disability. Remember, people identify and perceive themselves in many different ways. Do not include information that is not relevant to your topic.

Cultural, Ethnic, and Racial Designations

When writing about individuals whose ethnicity or race is relevant to the story, ask them what their preference is. When writing about an ethnic or racial group, use the term widely preferred by members of the group. See ethnic and racial designations.

Disabilities

Refer to the person first and the disability second. Do not use words such as victim, crippled, retarded, etc., and phrases such as “confined to a wheelchair” or “suffers from” when describing people with disabilities.

• She was a cancer victim just 5 years ago, but today she enjoys perfect health.

  Better: Five years ago, she battled cancer, but today she is in perfect health.

• The program is for learning-disabled students.

  Better: The program is for students with learning disabilities.

• She invented a device for the blind.

  Better: She invented a device to be used by people with blindness (or vision impairments).

Accessible

Do not use ADA accessible or handicapped accessible when referencing a facility that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines. The correct terms are accessible and not accessible. Simply stating that the facility is accessible means it is in compliance with the highest accessibility guidelines for that type of facility.

Addictions

Avoid such words as alcoholic, addict, user, and abuser unless they are in quotations or names of organizations—such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse or Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead, choose phrasing like he was addicted, people with heroin addiction, or they used drugs.

Gender, Gender Neutral

Avoid gender-specific language—most commonly, the use of a male pronoun. At Oberlin, it is good practice to ask a person’s preferred pronouns; some people use they, them, theirs.

Avoid using a plural pronoun when the antecedent or object is still singular. Recast the sentence or make everything plural, so that plural pronouns can correctly be used. Avoid using both male and female pronouns separated by or or a slash.

• The customer went in search of a mechanic to ask him for advice. Better: The customer went in search of a mechanic to ask for advice.
• If an oceanography student falls overboard, he should use the opportunity to collect specimens. Better: If oceanography students fall overboard, they should use the opportunity to collect specimens.
• If a student falls behind, s/he may seek tutoring. Better: Students who fall behind may seek tutoring.

With informal materials, it is acceptable to use the second-person pronoun you:

• You will need to show your OCID card.
• You will need to enter your ObieID and password to access the library website.

Avoid gender-based word choices

Avoid

• chairman, chairmen
• congressman, congresswoman
• policeman
• foreman
• foreign student, foreigner
• fireman
• coed
• stewardess
• manmade
• manned
• manhunt
• mankind
• freshman
• businessman

Prefer

• chair, chairs
• representative
• officer
• supervisor
• international student
• firefighter
• female student
• flight attendant
• artificial
• staffed
• search
• people
• first-year student
• entrepreneur, business owner

Citizenship

Avoid use of alien or illegal; instead use unauthorized immigrant or undocumented student/person. See alien, illegal alien.

Avoid use of foreign student, foreigner; instead use international student or identify place where the person is from.

Personal Pronouns she/her, he/him, they/them

Not all languages have gendered pronouns. They/them pronouns (also called singular they) are one of these pronouns. ‘They’ is often used as a gender-neutral pronoun, one that does not indicate the gender of a person and is more inclusive. However, this pronoun is also commonly used (sometimes along with other pronouns) to express a gender identity somewhere under the non-binary umbrella (although not always).

If you do not know someone’s pronouns, it’s safest to use ‘they’ until you do. Ask first when possible.

Usage**:** Singular ‘they’ is used the same way as she or he pronouns, except the rest of the sentence is structured the same way it would if you were referring to a group. Instead of “she is coming home tomorrow,” it is “they are coming home tomorrow.” This is exactly how we would use ‘you’ in most of English speech.

Conjunctions: they are. I like them. They should be proud of themselves. I like their music.

Note: In addition to our sources, updates to this section on bias-free language reflect the conversations with various authorities on campus who offered guidance and expertise in these areas.

BIPOC See ethnic and racial designations.

biennial Happening once every two years.

bimonthly Happening every two months.

bipartisan Involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies.

Board of Trustees Full formal references to the Oberlin College Board of Trustees are always capitalized: The Oberlin College Board of Trustees meets four times a year.

The shortened version, omitting “Oberlin College,” is lowercased: The board of trustees approves the budget.

References to boards at other institutions or corporations may be lowercased.

References to members’ affiliation with Oberlin’s board are not capitalized.

• board members (and all other configurations)
• the trustees
• board chair
• board chair Jane Doe
• chair of the board
• chair of the board of trustees
• board trustee Jane Doe
• trustee Jane Doe
• board member Jane Doe

See capitalization; titles, academic and professional.

book titles Use italics for the titles of books. See titles of works.

Boomer(s) or Baby Boomers Refers to persons born from 1946 to 1964; overlaps with Gen X.

bullets See Punctuation Appendix.

bylaw