SUNY Seeks Tobacco Ban
By: Tina Shively
Updated: June 13, 2012
SUNY Trustees have passed a resolution banning tobacco on all 64 campuses. That means no tobacco of any kind on school grounds, or in facilities and vehicles. Tina Shively reports from SUNY Brockport, where smoking tobacco is already taboo.
More than 500,000 people go to school or work at SUNY campuses across the state, and tobacco use on those campuses may soon be off limits to all of them.
In January of 2007, smoking was banned inside buildings and in campus vehicles statewide. Last August, SUNY Brockport took it a step further by going smoke free. That decision was made after two years of feedback and public forums with students and staff.
Administrators say going tobacco-free is the logical next step for their campus. They were already working on doing so before the trustee's vote.
"We're preparing our students to work in progressive workplace environments," said Karen Logsdon. She's the Assistant to the Vice President for Enrollment, Management and Student Affairs. "Obviously teachers and many business campuses have gone smoke-free, so it makes really good sense to educate our students early."
SUNY administrators are now drafting the tobacco-free legislation. It will then be introduced to the state legislature for their approval.
SUNY says if the legislation is passed, they hope to put the policy in place by January 1, 2014. It would make the public university system the largest in the country to ban tobacco.
