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As of Friday, July 1, 2016, all 4 of Â鶹¹ÙÍø & Wales University’s campuses are officially tobacco free. Faculty, staff and students assembled on the lawn in front of the Yena Center on Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s Providence campus to celebrate becoming the first university in Rhode Island to become tobacco free. Â鶹¹ÙÍø joins approximately 1,100 other colleges and universities across the country.

Attendees heard from Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Ron Martel, Â鶹¹ÙÍø Providence Campus President Mim Runey, Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, and Edyn Zapata, Â鶹¹ÙÍø Providence's Student Government Association secretary.

“This is a historic and memorable day for Â鶹¹ÙÍø as we celebrate the first day of being tobacco free,” Martel said.

Instituting a tobacco-free policy across all of Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s campuses didn't just happen overnight. This undertaking first began 3 years ago when President Runey put a concerned student in touch with the university’s student affairs office and things began taking off from there.

“This journey has been a little bumpy,” Runey admits, but notes that “the benefits will be many,” including healthier, cleaner, safer, and happier campuses.

“I want to offer a big, heartfelt thank you and congratulations,” Alexander-Scott said. “Thank you for being a leader and setting an example for other colleges and universities to follow. There's nothing like being able to say you're the first [in Rhode Island]!”

Meanwhile, in Denver...

Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s Denver Campus also celebrated going tobacco free on Friday. Faculty and staff joined together to collect cigarette butts across campus during their “No Butts Â鶹¹ÙÍø It” event.

“This is a major step forward for the [Denver] campus and for Â鶹¹ÙÍø & Wales as an institution,” Â鶹¹ÙÍø Denver Campus President Richard Wiscott said in a Facebook Live appearance on Friday (watch below). “I am so proud that now all of us together are supporting this important initiative.”

Volunteers donned blue protective gloves and took off to different corners of campus to collect discarded cigarette butts. Photos from Â鶹¹ÙÍø Denver's event can be viewed on their .

Four Campuses. One University. All Tobacco-Free.

Â鶹¹ÙÍø Providence and Â鶹¹ÙÍø Denver now join North Miami and Charlotte as tobacco-free campuses. Â鶹¹ÙÍø Charlotte, the first campus to implement this policy, did so on July 1, 2015, with Â鶹¹ÙÍø North Miami following suit on December 1, 2015.

Information about Â鶹¹ÙÍø & Wales' tobacco-free policy (which includes electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco), campus maps, and tobacco cessation resources can be found at Â鶹¹ÙÍø's Tobacco Free .

Watch a video of the unveiling of Â鶹¹ÙÍø Providence’s tobacco free banner below.