Students who once took the liberty of smoking in their dorm rooms will no longer be allowed to light up at home. Beginning in the fall, all residence halls will be smoke-free.

“You can smoke outside of the halls, but not within the buildings,” said Gini Arthur, associate director of residence halls.

She said the ban was initiated by the student government. The Inter Residence Hall Association voted on the smoking ban this spring.

“This follows suit with state guidelines – it is a health-based ban,” Arthur said.

In previous years, it has been up to each house to vote on smoking.

The residence hall terms and conditions mandate smoking outside of the dorm must be far enough away as to prevent smoke from entering the building. If residents of the Fresh Start program violate the smoking policy, they will be assigned to a different residence hall.

Arthur said a lot of the houses voted themselves smoke-free.

“It went pretty smoothly,” Arthur said. “We had some students who felt we were taking away their right to smoke, but a clear majority of the students were supportive.”

This ban does not apply to students living in Frederiksen Court.

“We have our own smoking policy,” said Mary Beth Golemo, residence hall coordinator for Frederiksen Court.

Frederiksen has one building for smoking students, and the rest of the buildings are smoke-free. The policy states that smoking is permitted only in Building 43 apartments if all of the roommates agree. Smoking is not allowed in public areas.

When students apply, they have to request a smoking room, Golemo said.

“We’re a different community,” Golemo said. “Our terms and conditions outline some of the same problems that the residence halls are facing.”

“Students just need to remember it is smoke-free,” Arthur said. “They cannot smoke in the dorms, but they can smoke outside.”

Though the restrictions on smoking have increased, incense burning has not been banned in the residence halls.