Texas Christian University is one of the first 20 universities in the nation awarded a $20,000 grant as part of the American Cancer Society and the CVS Health Foundation’s Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative, a three-year, multi-million-dollar program to accelerate and expand the adoption and implementation of smoke- and tobacco-free campus policies.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 1.7 million American college students who smoke will die of a smoking-related illness, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory infection or cancer. This grant program will provide universities with the technical assistance and resources to support their efforts with education, communications, cessation programs and evaluation.

“We’re honored to be one of the first universities to receive this pioneering grant and look forward to using these critical new resources to enable our tobacco prevention task force to make TCU a tobacco-free campus,” said Dr. Suzy Lockwood, associate dean for nursing at TCU. “Creating a tobacco-free environment for our faculty, staff, students and visitors speaks to our desire to promote overall health and wellness.”

TCU is currently designated “No Smoking” by a city of Fort Worth ordinance. That designation means that smoking is not allowed in any campus building or any university-owned vehicle. People who smoke may do so outdoors, at least 20 feet from any building entrance/exit, and there are cigarette ash cans outside the entrances to all campus facilities.

This policy is similar to the majority of higher education institutions in the United States. According to the Americans for Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, of the approximately 4,700 American colleges/universities, only 30 percent are tobacco free.

Whether a campus is tobacco free remains an important consideration for students applying to, and attending, a university. So where does TCU go from here?

“We have divided the project into four stages, beginning with fact gathering, as we solicit input from faculty, staff and students through open forums, internal surveys and social media channels,” said Lockwood. “We will work with existing campus programs to support recommendations from the task force to create and communicate a new policy.

“We will create new programs and educational opportunities that complement and expand existing campus wellness programs as well as city initiatives, and hope to have the policy in effect for the 2017-18 academic year.”

The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. CVS, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, is the only national pharmacy no longer selling cigarettes and tobacco products in its stores.

Inaugural recipients of the TFGCI grant are as follows:

Bowling Green State University

California State University – San Marcos

Davenport University

East Carolina University

El Paso Community College

Indiana University – Bloomington

Lenoir-Rhyne University

Merritt College

Montclair State University

Oakland University

Penn State University

Piedmont Community College

Saint Mary’s College of California

Springfield College

St. Xavier University

Texas Christian University

Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi

University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College

University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania