MCC Bans Smoking, Becomes Smoke-Free Campus

McHenry County College is becoming a tobacco-free campus effective Oct. 1.

“The goal of becoming a tobacco-free campus is to promote a safe, clean and healthy learning environment for our students, employees and community patrons,” said Lena Kalemba, RN and MCC’s director of health and wellness.

The MCC board of trustees passed a new policy banning smoking on campus at its August meeting. Official enforcement of that policy begins Oct. 1.

Violators will be referred to the appropriate administrative office for review and appropriate administrative action. Violators may also be subject to citations and/or fines by campus public safety. The first citation would be $50 and a second citation would be $100.

Subsequent citations may be issued up to $250, depending on the nature of the violation. Failure to pay fines will result in an Academic Restriction placed on the student’s record.

“Smoking affects all organs of your body,” Kalemba said. “Your skin, your lungs, your bladder, your eyes—everything, and more and more research says that second-hand smoke is just as detrimental to people … so the only way to protect people who are choosing to live a healthy lifestyle and not smoke, is to have a tobacco-free environment.”

The American College Health Association (ACHA) supports the findings of the Surgeon General that tobacco use in any form—active or passive—is a significant health hazard. And, efforts to promote tobacco-free college environments have led to a significant decrease in the number of people who smoke, the amount of tobacco products consumed, and the number of people exposed to environmental tobacco risks, making these environments cleaner and healthier for all, Kalemba said.

Kalemba noted that the policy includes all forms of tobacco as well as electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes. She said e-cigarettes are not regulated by the FDA so, despite marketing claims, current data indicates the devices likely do contain nicotine as well as other harmful chemicals that manufacturers do not have to reveal.

“And it’s that nicotine that is so addictive,” she said.

Prior to the policy, there were only three locations on campus where people could smoke, and even these locations drew complaints from non-smokers, Kalemba said.

Passing a tobacco-free policy was actually initiated by student groups, who brought their concerns to the MCC Board of Trustees.

Former Dean of Students Normah Salleh-Barone spearheaded a campus committee, which studied the issue for nearly two years. The committee included students and all areas of the staff and administration.

As part of the process, the committee conducted surveys in February of MCC employees and MCC’s Student Senate circulated paper surveys among students. Both surveys showed the majority of staff and students favored a tobacco-free campus: 73 percent of employees and 67 percent of students were in favor of a tobacco ban.

Campus Safety and Security Director Michael Clesceri noted campus public safety officers have been in “educational mode” since the MCC Board passed the policy in August and will continue to educate smokers about the new restrictions. Officers have been handing out stress balls and “no smoking” mints and informing campus goers of the October roll out.

“We believe the educational component will go a long way in gaining cooperation on the new policy rather than just enforcement only,” he said. “This is truly going to take a cooperative effort.”