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As of Friday, July 1, 2016, all 4 of 17³Ô¹ÏÍø’s campuses are officially tobacco free. Faculty, staff and students assembled on the lawn in front of the Yena Center on 17³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Providence campus to celebrate becoming the first university in Rhode Island to become tobacco free. 17³Ô¹ÏÍø 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, 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Providence Campus President Mim Runey, Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, and Edyn Zapata, 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Providence's Student Government Association secretary.

“This is a historic and memorable day for 17³Ô¹ÏÍø as we celebrate the first day of being tobacco free,” Martel said.

Instituting a tobacco-free policy across all of 17³Ô¹ÏÍø’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...

17³Ô¹ÏÍø’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 About It” event.

“This is a major step forward for the [Denver] campus and for Johnson & Wales as an institution,” 17³Ô¹ÏÍø 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 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Denver's event can be viewed on their .

Four Campuses. One University. All Tobacco-Free.

17³Ô¹ÏÍø Providence and 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Denver now join North Miami and Charlotte as tobacco-free campuses. 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Charlotte, the first campus to implement this policy, did so on July 1, 2015, with 17³Ô¹ÏÍø North Miami following suit on December 1, 2015.

Information about Johnson & Wales' tobacco-free policy (which includes electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco), campus maps, and tobacco cessation resources can be found at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø's Tobacco Free .

Watch a video of the unveiling of 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Providence’s tobacco free banner below.