With the state’s Smoke-Free Campus Act (2013) banning smoking on all Illinois state-supported campuses, Bradley’s Student Senate is looking into options for implementing a similar ban on campus.
Students discussed the possibility of a smoke-free campus resolution at the Student Senate forum Tuesday evening in Neumiller Hall.
“The driving force behind the resolution was Illinois passing the Smoke-Free Campus Act last year, and that only applies to public schools,” Student Senate Vice President of Campus Safety Cody Lonigro said. “But Bradley being as established as it is and ranking as high as it does, we figured it was something we should really look into on our campus.”
This was an open forum created for discussion on whether students want a smoke free campus or not. The forum also addressed various issues such as what types of products would be banned, where they would be banned and whether faculty would be included.
Although there were fewer than 10 non-Student Senate attendees, constructive discussion lasted for nearly an hour.
Students present seemed, on the whole, against the ban. Some said they thought the ban was not necessary and that it would be violating students’ personal freedoms. Another student said that the ban could take away prospective students who are looking for a less strict campus.
This proposed regulation would ban a range of tobacco products, including cigarettes, E-Cigs, hookah and chewing tobacco. It would ban smoking on campus from University Street to Cooper Street and from Main Street to Bradley Avenue. Fredonia Avenue and the St. James complex would not be affected.
The ban would be enforced primarily through an honor code, relying on students to follow the rule. However, tickets could possibly be given.
Lonigro said Student Senate is planning to send a survey on whether students smoke, what should be included in the ban and whether they support the ban or not. Much of this is still in the planning stages, according to several Student Senate members, and the institution and scope of this ban is all up to student feedback.
“We are going to take whatever happens [Tuesday], and if the students say, ‘No, we don’t want this,’ it’s done; we’re just not going to talk about it,” Lonigro said. “If it is something that people are interested in, we will go back and take a look at our resolution again, probably rework it and then bring it to the [General Assembly], and so we may pass it, and it will go to the University Senate and go to Chief Joschko.”
For more information on the discussion students may go to Student Senate’s Twitter account, @BradleySenate, where they live-tweeted the event.
