Bowie State University Bans Smoking On Campus

By Kirsten Petersen

Bowie State University students are being asked to leave their cigarettes at home as the school joins a state-wide effort to stubb out smoking on historically black college and university campuses.

Although smoking is prohibited inside buildings and within 25 feet outside of building entrances, students at Bowie State are committing to quitting the habit beyond those limits, pledging to ban smoking on the entire campus starting this summer.

Bowie State joins four other historically black colleges and universities in Maryland--Coppin State University, Morgan State University, Sojourner Douglass College, and University of Maryland on the Eastern Shore--who have signed a pledge to ban all tobacco products on their campus.

The initiative is organized by the Access to Wholistic and Productive Living Institute, a nonprofit in Prince George’s county that works to eliminate racial and ethnic inequities in minority communities.

AWPLI was recently tasked with creating the Regional African American Tobacco Control Networks with a grant from the National REACH Coalition, a nonprofit that works to achieve health equity for all regardless of race.

Bettye Muwwakkil is the executive director and founder of AWPLI. She said the goal of RAATCN is to reduce tobacco use and associated disabilities among African Americans and other ethnic minorities.

She said that RAATCN will work with universities to help them abide by their pledges, which go into effect July 1.

“Our objective is to make sure they are equipped with the tools and resources to sustain a smoke-free, tobacco-free campus,” Muwwakkil said.

Ina Ramos, the director of programs and finance for the Maryland Center at Bowie State University, is the university’s representative on RAATCN’s community leadership team.

Ramos, who is also an adjunct health lecturer at the university, will study smoking rates at Bowie State and find ways to strengthen the smoking policies.

“I’m really looking forward to better understanding what is happening in the campus community, determining how large of an issue it is and working to addressing it,” she said, adding, “If we can influence that policy of the university becoming a smoke-free environment completely, that would be our optimal goal.”

She is especially interesting in studying the use of electronic cigarettes among Bowie State students and establishing policies that limit their use.

“If we can get in front of this and develop policies now, we can have a greater impact,” Ramos said.

Muwwakkil said that RAATCN is working with Historically Black Colleges and Universities because the majority students are part of the initiative’s target audience--African Americans and ethnic minorities.

Additionally, Muwwakkil said that African Americans face some of the highest cancer rates and that more and more youth are picking up a smoking habit.

“Tobacco companies target our youth,” Muwwakkil said. “If we have youth that smoke early they may continue to smoke when they get to college.”

Bowie State was selected by AWPLI as a network hub, meaning that student “peer leaders” will conduct tobacco control campaigns, enhance communication about the health risks of smoking and work to expand the smoking policies on campus.

Muwwakkil said RAATCN is looking for undergraduate students who are involved in organizations such as fraternities and sororities to serve as peer leaders. These students should be interested in public health and reducing smoking in their communities, Muwwakkil said.

Ramos said the peer leaders will be able to spread the message of a healthy lifestyle beyond the campus.