The smoking battles on campuses began in the mid-1980s, when cigarettes slowly began to be phased out of classrooms, administration buildings, lounges and student unions. But that changed in 1994, when the largest school in the nation, the University of Texas at Austin, with more than 48,000 students, extended its smoke-free policy from academic buildings to all university housing. In so doing, it set a precedent that would be copied around the country. By 1996, state schools from the University of California at Berkeley to Penn State had joined the ranks of totally smoke-free dorms. Most college administrators and students say no-smoking rules in dorms generally are observed, except for an occasional drunken student.
Penalties range from fines to community service.
Today, more than 1,000 students occupy substance-free floors in dorms spread across campus, and the university says it will expand such floors this fall.