Angelina College Goes Tobacco Free

LUFKIN – Beginning this fall, Angelina College will be tobacco free. According to the college’s website, school trustees approved the policy at Monday’s meeting.

The change makes the entire AC campus, including all off-campus centers, 100 percent tobacco-free. Smoking will not be allowed on-campus at any location except within the confines of a private vehicle. This will include the use of “e-cigarettes” and other such devices.

Angelina College president Dr. Larry Phillips said the decision has been pending for quite some time. “We have been discussing this policy for over a year, and we’ve conferred with both students and faculty members in that time,” Phillips said. “It is absolutely the right thing to do. A number of colleges and universities around the state are going, or have gone, to tobacco-free environments on-campus.”

Phillips cited input from the Coalition in Angelina County, which conducted surveys of students and other institutions of higher education. Those findings suggested wide-spread support for tobacco-free campuses.

“The college has been a non-smoking area in all buildings for quite a while,” Phillips said. “However, going completely tobacco-free should promote public health, save lives and save thousands of dollars in campus maintenance costs.”