UW-Stout Campus Goes Tobacco Free

The University of Wisconsin-Stout will become a tobacco free campus as of Wednesday following a pair of student votes to change university policy.

The votes came in on two student referendums to initiate the UW-Stout tobacco-free initiative. It will make the school the first four-year institution in the UW system to prohibit smoking and the use of other tobacco products on campus.

The policy includes any and all UW-Stout property, sidewalks And parking lots included.

’This is an important step in providing a healthy environment for our students, faculty and staff,’ Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen said. ’I am proud of the leadership our students have taken on this issue.’
 

Sorenson approved the policy change earlier this year.
In April 2009, students overwhelmingly supported banning smoking from campus. The recent vote saw students vote to extend that ban to all tobacco products. Sorensen accepted the recommendations, and official policy was changed to include the tobacco-free initiative campus-wide.
 

’The tobacco ban has been a collaborative initiative between the students, faculty and administration,’ former SSA President said Phillip Rizzo said. ’Since the initial referendum in spring 2009, the Stout Student Association has been working to create a tobacco free campus. Our goal is to represent the students, and we are pleased to see their beliefs translated into action.’
 

The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation tracks the smoke-free air policies of universities and colleges. It reported there were 420 smoke-free campuses nationwide with no exemptions as of July 5.
 

Some two-year campuses in the UW system previously went entirely smoke free. Multiple Wisconsin technical colleges also ban smoking on their campuses, including Chippewa Valley Technical College.
 

Sorensen appointed a committee to implement the tobacco-free initiative, which created and implemented a communications plan and listing existing smoking cessation resources.
Signs are posted on all outside doors informing people of the tobacco-free initiative. Further information will be added to some parking lots signs about the initiative. More information is available at http://www3.uwstout.edu/committee/sbic/
 

Enforcement of the policy will be through peer pressure, Sorenson said. Small cards have been printed that can be handed to people who are seen violating the tobacco-free initiative to encourage them to follow to the policy.