Staff Editorial | CCL must include opinions of Vassar staff in campus smoking ban discussion

Yesterday, Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Tanay Tatum '12 sent an email to the student body containing an important survey addressing the longstanding question of a smoking ban on Vassar's campus. Several Vassar administrators, including Dean of the College Chris Roellke, have considered such a ban. If enacted, Vassar would join the ranks of 600 smoke-free colleges and universities in the United States, including peer institution Barnard College and 51 others in New York State. Nevertheless, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council has said it hopes to act upon the results of this survey in a way reflective of student opinion.

The Miscellany News wishes to make its voice heard on the issue, not in support of either side of the argument, but to remind readers to consider the opinions of members of the Vassar community over national trends. We recognize and appreciate the VSA's attempts to be transparent and inclusive in basing their decision on a student poll. In particular, however, we urge the College and the VSA to poll faculty, staff and administration in addition to students, as these non-student groups will be similarly, if not more, affected by a campus smoking ban. As it stands, the staff perspective is entirely absent from dialogue surrounding the issue and we find it essential that their collective opinion be included among those already voiced by faculty, administrators and students in outlets such as the Committee on College Life and the forthcoming VSA survey.

When polling for campus opinions on the smoking ban, the VSA should first ensure that their sample size is large enough to represent the entire community. Barnard College's smoking ban materialized after their Student Government Association administered a survey in which 72 percent of those polled supported a ban, while 26 percent were against and two percent were unsure. But only 10 percent of the student body chose to vote. While the situation at Barnard is fundamentally different because of the campus' urban location, we hope the VSA recognizes that limited participation can hinder developing an accurate perception of the campus climate. More importantly, it is essential that students make their voices heard and formally participate in this process, through voting and any other avenue of advocacy. And if a small sample size proves unavoidable, the VSA must strive to make all ongoing legislative information available and at the forefront of student awareness.

As the smoking ban proposal moves forward, all parties involved in the polling and policy-making process should keep in mind the consequences this ban has on people other than students. To put this in perspective: the student constituency will be here at most for three more years, but most faculty and staff will spend far more time at Vassar. Additionally, a quarter to a half of the students who vote in this survey will never experience the results. Because a smoking ban affects them more than it does students, faculty, staff and administrator opinions must be considered with equal or greater weight.

It is not only students' relatively short tenure at Vassar that makes them less affected by a smoking ban. The nature of the relationship between students and administration is fundamentally different than that between administration and staff or faculty. If a faculty or staff member breaks a "banned activity" rule, his or her punishments are issued from employer to employee, a relationship in which infractions generally carry more weight that those between students and administrators.

Furthermore, it is not the role of the College to dictate lifestyle choices for its faculty and staff. The administration can exert pressure to guide student choices because of the agreement to uphold certain lifestyle choices made with Vassar upon matriculation. The administration's relationship to faculty and staff, however, does not share this paternalistic character. Vassar is an employer as well as an educator, and we must consider the various types of agreements that allow our community to function without assuming that a change in policy will affect all members equally.

As we consider the question of a smoking ban on the Vassar campus, the editorial board reminds the VSA and the administration of the importance of large and inclusive sample sizes on which to base policy decisions. We do not endorse either side of the debate. Rather, we urge the campus to use this decision as a way to reinforce solidarity and respect between all members of the Vassar community.

—The Staff Editorial represents the opinion of at least two thirds of the 23-member Miscellany News Editorial Board.