Student Union Senate passed a resolution on Wednesday night to address the administration’s recent initiative to ban smoking on all Washington University campuses, effective July 2010.

The resolution requests that the University administration reevaluate the tobacco ban with the consideration of the students in mind.

So far, more than 100 students have given their input on the Student Union (SU) smoking ban forum online. Most of those comments express disagreement with the initiative, citing violations of freedoms and not seeking out the student body’s input.

There appeared to be a consensus on SU’s taking a position on the tobacco ban. Concerns were raised as to whether the smoking ban would cause people to quit smoking.

Some senators were worried the smoking ban would effectively outcast members of the community and drive smokers away from central hubs.

Many senators thought that the University’s actions infringe upon student liberties.

“I would not say that Senate definitely supported the ban. We’re careful not to come to a specific conclusion, because it’s been really difficult for us to figure out how the student body feels about it,” said junior Chase Sackett, speaker of the Senate.

The opinions in the room were divided, according to Sackett.

“Some people feel very strongly in favor of the ban, ignoring how it was implemented, ignoring the input issue, and then other students feel very strongly against it,” he said. “I think the really important thing to take from this is not that this is a final statement on the ban.”

Sackett said that in the past the University had been cooperative and collaborative with students on many other issues, such as the bottled water ban, the plan for construction on the South 40 and dining hours.

“While we want to recognize that the administration has had an excellent relationship with us and has done a really great job in the past, this is an anomaly,” Sackett said.

SU President Jeff Nelson believes that a majority of the student body is in favor of the plan, but he echoed the sentiment that the students in the minority against the plan have the right to have their voices heard by the administration.

Sackett said the goal of SU has been to express the interests of the students, rather than individual viewpoints of senators.

“We feel student liberties are important and take our input into account, but we are really concerned with making sure we bring student feeling across,” he said.

SU officials will be presenting the resolution to members of the administration, at which time they will explain the meaning of the SU response.

Nelson, a junior, has indicated that he will sign the resolution.

“The resolution is a step. I would have liked it to be a little stronger. I think the resolution needed to be more clear in articulating why the way in which the decision was made was inappropriate and as a result of that, the decision is flawed,” Nelson said. “We need to be clearer how we want them to rectify the situation.”

Nelson emphasized the importance of the administration including the student body in the process of making decisions which affect students.

“What I’d like to see the administration do is to sign a document that they will include students in every major decision that affects their day-to-day experience,” he said. “The majority of students support a smoking ban. The administration should bring students back to the table. There are a lot of questions that are still on the table; the University should make a commitment to including students in that.”

With additional reporting by Ben Sales

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Tags: ban, senate, smoking, student input, su, tobacco, tobacco ban

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