Berea College’s campus currently only allows smoking at a few locations, but in July the campus will be entirely tobacco free. Berea College president Dr. Lyle Roelofs told us that the decision was made primarily because of the amount of non-smokers who pick up the habit while attending college. He went on to say that the goal of Berea College is to improve the lives of the students, and that they can’t ignore the negative effects on health that smoking causes.
He said that the majority of students and staff support the decision although the people against the college going smoke free tend to be more vocal. Dr. Roelofs is a former smoker himself and said that he understands how difficult it can be to kick the habit but thinks that they will be happier once they give up smoking.
