NEWS

Should the University of Delaware ban tobacco use on campus?

Nichole Dobo
The News Journal

An open forum this afternoon will give the University of Delaware community a chance to offer an opinion on a proposed campus tobacco ban.

A proposed policy would ban the use of all tobacco products at the University of Delaware. The idea originated with undergraduates.

"A healthy student population ... that would be the ultimate goal," said Jessica Borcky, president of UD's student government association and a senior majoring in public policy.

Use of all types of tobacco products – including electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco – would be prohibited on all property owned or controlled by UD. Using it in private vehicles parked on university property would also be banned.

On Monday, the UD faculty Senate will host an open forum for the campus community to discuss the proposed policy. Any new rule would need approval from the university administration.

It is not typical for students to be the lead advocates for a policy change, said Thomas LaPenta, UD's chief human resources officer.

"I never recall the student body pushing an effort like this," LaPenta said. "The undergraduate student government has basically voted for this and pushed it to the administration ... Students live here, it's their university. The view of the University of Delaware is we are willing to listen to the student body on this."

UD banned smoking inside campus buildings about twenty years ago. There are designated smoking areas outdoors, which would be snuffed out under the proposal.

Nationwide, there are 422 colleges campuses that are "tobacco-free," meaning use of all types of tobacco products are banned on campus, according to a list kept by the American Lung Association. The Americans for Nonsmokers Rights estimates there are more than 1,180 "smoke-free" campuses that prohibit the use of cigarettes.

In 2010, Widener Law School in New Castle County went tobacco-free. A year later, Delaware Technical Community College snuffed it out on its campuses. Wilmington University, a private institution with campuses in all three counties, banned smoking in 2012.

"I think the key is letting people know it's coming, providing education, and letting people know so it doesn't come off as being a surprise," said Jack Cunningham, Wilmington University's vice president for safety.

Delaware State University, a land-grant with a Dover main campus, is not a tobacco-free campus, a spokesman said.

In 2010, a UD official suggested there would be difficulty implementing a blanket ban outdoors. It's not always obvious where the main campus ends and the city of Newark, which does not ban smoking outdoors, begins, the official said.

A draft of UD's proposed policy calls for signs and advertising to alert people to the ban.

There will be help offered to those who want to kick the habit. Those who break the rule could face disciplinary action.

Three student government polls showed about five out of seven UD students surveyed supported a tobacco-free campus. Borcky attended a UD faculty Senate meeting last month to present the draft policy. She is hopeful that it will gain momentum.

"It would just really show that students do have a voice on campus," Borcky said.

Contact Nichole Dobo at (302) 324-2281 or ndobo@delawareonline.com.