Ohio U considers mandatory ‘re-education’ classes for students who smoke on campus
The university is planning to ban regular and electronic cigarettes on its campus next academic year.
OU's vice president for student affairs says he doesn't want the school to "become a police state."
Ohio University (OU) is considering mandatory “re-education” classes for students who disregard its smoking ban.
The public university plans to ban cigarettes — including electronic cigarettes — anywhere on its 1,850-acre campus beginning next academic year.
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Those who repeatedly violate the ban will be sent to the university’s Office of Community Stands to “talk to somebody,” Ryan Lombardi, OU vice president for student affairs, said in an interview with The Athens News.
Lombardi added that the university is working on developing smoking cessation programs and classes, and that attendance in those classes may be mandatory for repeat offenders.
But Lombardi assured the News that he does not want the school to “become a police state.”
"I really don't see this as situation where students have to be separated from the university, or an employee has to be terminated," he said. "That is not a desired outcome on anybody's part."
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