“BACK IN MY DAY…
smoking cigarettes was still quite common. In my residence hall, South Quad, some floors allowed smoking. One of my geology professors used to smoke in the classroom while pacing in front of the blackboard.” — Helen Bidol, ’86
TODAY…
the University is a tobacco-free premises, with the use of all tobacco products — including vapes and e-cigarettes — banned on all University of Michigan campuses.
But smoking on campus was prevalent through much of the University’s history. The Michigan Union even used to have a smoking room in the 1930s, outfitted with ashtrays on stands and chairs lining the walls. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, in 1955, 56.9 percent of men and 28.4 percent of women surveyed reported they were current smokers.
In the ensuing decades, the health risks of smoking became more widely recognized, and more restrictions were put in place across the country.
In 1987, U-M prohibited smoking in buildings — with the exception of designated residence halls — and all University vehicles, following the passage of the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act which restricted smoking to designated areas in public places, in an effort to protect public health.
A 1994 update to the policy further restricted smoking in rented and owned University facilities, stating: “The right of a non-smoker to protect his or her health and comfort will take precedence over another’s desire to smoke.”
With this update, the University began to phase out in-room smoking, and by the time the Residence Halls Association helped ban smoking in all U-M residence halls in 2003, only 5 percent of dorm rooms allowed it.
The update wasn’t well-received by all U-M students at the time. When interviewed by The Michigan Daily in 2003, then-sophomore Anup Arora, ’05, expressed opposition to the policy change.
“To me, the University is based on freedom of choice and the decision to ban smoking takes away that choice.”
Katherine Fiorillo is the senior editor of Michigan Alum.
