Michael Coakley quit smoking last year. Now he’s made sure all residence hall dwellers follow his lead – at least while they’re inside.

Smoking will be prohibited inside residence halls starting next fall.

After a positive recommendation from the Residence Hall Association, Student Housing and Dining Services made the call for the ban.

Currently, some halls are smoke-free, but most, including Stevenson C and D Towers, allow smoking on select floors. That will change however, said Coakley, who is the executive director of Student Housing and Dining Services.

“I think there is a large percentage of the student population who want to be able to live in a building that is smoke-free, so there is going to be a meeting of that expectation beginning next fall,” Coakley said.

RHA President Alex Underwood, a senior management major and smoker, was pleased with the decision.

“I think it’s a good step to make the halls a healthier place to live,” he said.

More than 20 student smokers were surveyed informally outside of the Grant and Stevenson residence halls Wednesday afternoon by the Northern Star. No one from the group was upset about the decision. That group includes Christie Eissler, a freshman biological sciences major, who doesn’t mind doing her part as long as she gets a bench in the process.

“It really doesn’t bother me too much,” she said. “I would like to see a a nice bench put outside, so I don’t have to stand here, and when you sit on the ground you get bugs. So a bench would be nice.”

Coakley was influenced by a recent trend among Illinois universities.

“There were concerns raised last year by the larger University Environmental Health and Safety Committee about whether the residence halls should become completely smoke-free,” he said. “We looked at what was going on at other schools, and most of the other schools in the state of Illinois had already or were in the process of going smoke-free.”

The issue of smoke-free residence halls should be decided by administrators, Coakley added.

“I thought it was a student issue and it really needed to be addressed by the students,” he said.

The recommendation process included a successful open forum which worked, Underwood said.

“We spent a lot of time talking to students and it really made a lot of sense for the halls to be smoke-free,” he said. “I am very proud of the work the committee did.”

Coakley believes the decision won’t affect many smokers.

“I think most people do decide to smoke outside,” he said. “One of the practical problems is going to be how to create spaces that aren’t trashy or smoke huts, but are a place where people can go smoke outside.”

Mary Strohm, a health educator for Health Enhancement Services, is hopeful the decision means more incoming students will attempt to quit.

“It’s possible that when new students arrive [to smoke-free halls] next year, they will be looking to quit and we obviously will be offering them the same services that we offer every year,” she said.

Underwood sympathized with his displaced brethren – to a point.

“I think a lot of people will obviously be upset with the decision. But, when you live in a community, you have to do what’s for the the better good of the community.”