KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new campus-wide smoking ban is stirring up controversy on the campus of UMKC.
Starting August 1, smokers won’t be allowed to light up on any university-owned or leased property. Anyone on campus will no longer be allowed to chew or smoke any tobacco products, including E-cigarettes.
University officials say it’s a move to foster a healthier campus, which currently has 16,000 part and full-time students.
“It’s a nationwide movement of universities, we’re trying to look at our health and our wellness,” said Bob Simmons, Associate Vice Chancellor of Administration for UMKC. “The policy doesn’t say you have to quit smoking. It just begins to put some regulation and some parameters around when you do it and where you do it.”
Smokers can still light up on public sidewalks along city-owned streets, or in their cars, as long as the windows are rolled up.
“I appreciate being able to walk through campus and not have someone’s smoke blown into my face,” said Kyle Gardner, an incoming UMKC freshman.
But for some long-time smokers, the change feels like a personal attack.
“I pay tuition like the other students, so I’m outside smoking and how is that interfering with anybody else?” asked student Cheri Clark-Bey. “It’s not that simple to just quit smoking. It’s not like I can put this cigarette down today and say ‘Hey, I’m not going to smoke August 1.'”
Administrators understand those complaints; but with just 14 percent of students who smoke, said they must do what’s best for the entire student body.
“We had very strong majority support to move in this direction,” Simmons said.
There are no specific penalties for people who choose to ignore the new policy. Instead, Simmons called it a “good citizen policy” where it’s assumed people will follow the rules.
