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BY ROSA KIM

In print | Published October 11, 2007

In early September, Haverford College President Dr. Stephen G. Emerson initiated a campus-wide discussion on the possibility of creating a smoke-free environment throughout Haverford’s campus.

Haverford is not the first institution of higher learning to consider implementing a formal smoking ban. According to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), as of October 2007, over 90 colleges and universities across the country have entirely smoke-free campuses, both indoors and out, and over 280 have all smoke-free residential housing.

Haverford’s Dean of College Greg Kannerstein said that Emerson expressed concern after seeing groups of people smoking outside buildings on Haverford’s campus. Emerson, a hematologist oncologist, has worked with a number of patients suffering from smoking-related diseases, and given the health risks associated with smoke exposure, saw this as a public health matter that needed to be addressed.

The possibility of banning smoking on Haverford’s campus continues to be discussed. An online survey has been administered to get a sense of the varying opinions and to incorporate the community’s input in shaping the proposal.

At Swarthmore, smoking is currently prohibited inside academic and administrative buildings. Most dormitories are non-smoking except Hallowell, Roberts and parts of Strath Haven, Wharton and Worth. There are however, no clear rules monitoring smoking in public social spaces such as Paces, Olde Club, the Women’s Resource Center and Delta Upsilon.

Abigail Frost ‘04 said in a letter to the Phoenix back in October 2003, For a school that cares enough about our health to require both physical education classes and a swimming test as prerequisites for graduation, the silent tolerance of the activity that is still [one of] America’s largest killer[s] is astounding. It is time that all students are able to go to Paces without fear of an allergic reaction, that all students can sit in Olde Club without reeking of tobacco and that all students who violate the terms already on the books pay the required ¦ fee.

Associate Dean for Student Life Myrt Westphal said that a complete smoking ban on Swarthmore’s campus would raise questions about how to effectively enforce the ban and how to efficiently hold those who break the rule accountable.

I think it’s hard to ban smoking entirely from a campus the size of Haverford or Swarthmore, Westphal said. My fear is, if you do that, you’re going to play cat and mouse with the smokers. I would like the environment to be as healthy and safe as possible, but 1,400 people live here. I think it’s hard to prohibit everyone from smoking in their home. So to me, the sort of two important factors are, that this is people’s home and that to ban smoking on campus will push people off to the perimeters, or if they’re just fed up, they’ll just smoke where they want on campus. I don’t know that anybody wants to be the smoke police. I think that mandating from the top down doesn’t work on lifestyle issues.

While the majority of the Haverford campus has reacted positively to the idea of banning smoking, Watter said that current survey responses reveal a healthy number of people who are skeptical and oppose a smoking ban for a variety of reasons. Emerson said that members of the Haverford community have expressed both support for and criticism of his proposal to ban smoking on campus. The strongest position that has been offered is that it’s legal so why is it any concern of the college’s, he said. The response is that secondary smoke is everyone’s issue, first of all. Second of all, that if we don’t [ban smoking] we’re creating one of few smoking, sustaining, endorsing, enabling sanctuaries that exists now.

We are looking at this as comprehensively as we can, said Haverford’s Dean of Student Life Steve Watter.

So far, a considerable number of Haverford’s staff, faculty and students have expressed their concerns about possibly creating an atmosphere where smokers would not feel welcome. Watter said the goal is to develop a plan that won’t make anyone feel marginalized. Ultimately, we’re trying to create a healthy environment, Watter said.

All of these factors are being considered as the proposal takes shape. [Emerson] insists that nothing is final now, that he wants input from people and have a discussion. He’s already changed the shape of the proposal and he’s talking to more people, Kannerstein said.

The proposal consists of not only banning smoking in public areas, including outdoor areas, but also offering education and support to help people quit smoking. We’re much more focused on providing support for people, like smoke cessation programs, Kannerstein said.

Since Emerson first introduced the idea in September, the proposal has evolved in light of the various unintentional consequences of a total ban.

The proposal has changed a little to now allow a place on campus outside where people can smoke, Kannerstein said. The new plan designates outdoor areas on Haverford’s campus with enough distance from buildings to provide a place where smokers could smoke, and at the same time, preventing the unintentional inhalation of secondhand smoke for non-smokers.

According to Westphal, Swarthmore students who have smoked in non-smoking buildings have been warned and fined in the past. If the students continued to smoke in their room or outside where the smoke traveled into another student’s room, they were told they would not be allowed to live in the building. We have done top down things saying that you may not smoke in any indoor public space, that you may only smoke in certain dorm rooms with the door closed. So, in order to go further than that, I think it would have to be a student initiative, Westphal said.

As for a smoking ban on Swarthmore’s campus, Westphal said that this is not an issue the administration plans to address unless a large population of the community expresses concern. I think there are many groups that could initiate this. It could be the administration, it could be students, it could be visitors. My suspicion is that the administration is not going to address this unless they get a lot of concern from a broad section of the community, she said.

Anne Kolker ‘08 said that although smokers shouldn’t be allowed to smoke everywhere on campus, she does not favor a campus-wide ban. I don’t think a ban of anything is the way to go, she said.

Eric Glickman ‘10 said he wouldn’t favor a campus-wide ban. He said smoking is within a student’s rights, as long as smokers are considerate of others.

In response to Haverford’s consideration of a smoking ban on its campus, Westphal said, Haverford is such a close ally of us, I’m going to be interested to see what happens. I think anything that makes our environment healthier is good, but I always look at the unintended consequences. And if it makes a whole bunch of rule breakers, I don’t think that makes for a good community.

Emerson said there is currently no timeline for Haverford’s smoking ban. If Haverford decides as a community to move forward with the initiative, the ban would be effective next semester at the earliest. However, Watter said there are still many aspects that need to be worked out before a campus-wide ban is instituted. You have a somewhat different view when you’re a young student who has not seen the impact of these things, versus someone who is older and has lived a long time, Emerson said. And in my case as a physician, scientist, I’ve seen a lot.

Jamie Layton, a Sharples cook, said she would support a campus-wide smoking ban at Swarthmore. When you’re young, you don’t know a lot, but later on in life, you pay for it, she said.

Emerson said the ultimate goal for initiating this conversation at Haverford is to prevent premature death among our students, faculty and staff, Emerson said. I hope that everybody on campus who does smoke tries to quit and succeeds in quitting, that would be my strongest hope.

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