The news that another public state university is calling for a campus-wide tobacco ban prompted Ohio University’s tobacco task force to continue talks for an eventual proposal to President Roderick McDavis.
On March 8, Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee sent an email to all OSU students and faculty that urged the forbiddance of smoking within campus limits, according to an article in The Columbus Dispatch.
Some OSU students said they were supportive of the proposal and that it would promote a healthier campus environment, despite possibly upsetting students who use tobacco.
“Being a non-user myself, I feel like it is a great idea for a ban on OSU’s campus,” said Danny Neville, a sophomore studying economics. “It would add to the overall aesthetics of the campus and hopefully prevent some kids from continuing to use or prevent them from ever starting to use tobacco.”
Like Neville, Derek Lancashire, a sophomore studying psychology, said he was a proponent of Gee’s initiative to ban tobacco.
“The way I see it is that the entire campus is one shared public facility, much like a restaurant or an airport,” Lancashire said. “Smoking is already banned in such public shared facilities. ... It affects the health of the entire student body, so it is a necessary step.”
Alfred Yates, president of Students 4 A Healthy Campus and a senior studying mathematics and communication, took part in the discussion for the suggested ban with campus administrators. He said the policy is currently in its draft stage.
“The policy will be proposed to the (OSU) Board of Trustees in April based upon feedback,” Yates said. “I do think the policy is plausible. OSU had this in the works for a while now and it’s coming close.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi said he would take OSU’s ban into consideration when preparing OU’s proposal for McDavis and then the eventual review during the Board of Trustees meeting in June.
“I am aware of OSU’s decision, and we will certainly find out how they plan to implement this policy to the extent they are willing to share,” Lombardi said. “However, we are also aware that we have distinctly different campuses with different environmental considerations.”
OU’s task force collected the data from the tobacco surveys that were sent early spring semester. However, Lombardi said the task force would not convene until April, after he finishes analyzing the surveys.
hy135010@ohiou.edu
