A newly enforced Residential Life policy banning smoking within Center Complex is causing a rift between Resident Assistants and residents.
Katy Chapman, a resident assistant for Irish B in Center Complex said this year, Residential Life instated a new policy that declared the complex's surrounding gates are now the residential hall walls.
Before the new rule, Charlie's Cafe in Center Complex was a designated smoking area. Now students and faculty are being asked to smoke outside of the gates.
"They're changing their definition," said English junior and Center Complex resident Elizabeth Fritze. "Nothing in the handbook says there's no smoking within the residential hall. They're redefining their term."
The Residential Life student handbook states that smoking is not permitted in or within 50 feet of any residence hall except in designated smoking areas, though the handbook requests students to see their hall staff for locations and information.
"That's not just a residential life policy but a collaboration with the state and health services that looked at that policy," said Sylvester Chestnut, assistant director of strategic initiatives in Residential Life.
Chapman said residents were given a one-week warning prior to implementation of the rule.
"We gave plenty of opportunities of warning before we started documenting people," she said.
Chapman said RAs posted no-smoking signs around Center Complex, gave residents verbal warnings and held hall meetings.
Fritze and religious studies sophomore Cassie Hitz, another Center Complex resident, said the signs Residential Life posted should not be considered official because there was no stamp or seal of approval.
"Students print up things and hang them up all the time," Hitz said. "[The signs] could just be a student exercising their freedom of speech."
Both Fritze and Hitz were cited for smoking in the complex last week.
Aerospace engineering sophomore Aaron Abernathy said he's glad that Center Complex is complying with the rule, though he wishes more accommodations had been made for smokers.
"It doesn't seem like any forethought was put into where people could go to smoke once they put in the changes," he said.
Fritze, who is a former RA, said the spread of information was handled poorly.
"I'm not necessarily in the position of trying to rip on Residential Life policy," Fritze said. "I'm just stating that the implementation of the policy was handled poorly."
Nicole Saidi contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at shaina.levee@asu.edu.
