The American Lung Association of the Northeast honored Gateway Community College April 4 with the 2014 Connecticut Leadership Board Award for becoming the state’s first public campus to instill a completely smokefree policy. The college received the award at the American Lung Association’s Spring gala, “An Evening of Life & Breath, Celebrating One Breath at a Time.”

GCC implemented a campus-wide, smoke-free policy when it moved to its new downtown New Haven campus in August 2012, making it the first of Connecticut’s state colleges and universities to ban smoking in indoor and outdoor areas across the campus.

“We are thrilled to present Gateway Community College with the 2014 Connecticut Leadership Board Award,” said Jeff Seyler, president & CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast. “The only way to truly protect the public from deadly secondhand smoke is by adopting policies like the one Gateway has recently put into place. Secondhand smoke is responsible for almost 50,000 American deaths each year and what’s more is that students, staff and faculty of Gateway Community College will be able to focus on the academics and not be burdened by this very real public health concern. We hope that other campuses quickly follow suit.”

According to Gateway President Dr. Dorsey L. Kendrick, “The college community is honored to receive this distinguished recognition from the American Lung Association. We are fortunate that our new campus was designed to be smokefree through its LEED Gold, environmentally-friendly design. This is as important to us as any of our sustainable initiatives. We are committed to the wellbeing of all who enter our doors in pursuit of a better future, and that includes better health."