Students smoke to call attention to USF’s tobacco investments

Share
Chris Johnson USF
Chris Johnson. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (2016).

Some University of South Florida students trying to call attention to the school’s investment policy are organizing a smoking party Wednesday on campus; the campus officially became smoke-free this academic year and the students say it’s hypocritical for the university foundation to invest in tobacco companies.

WMNF interviewed Chris Johnson, a junior double-majoring in political science and English at USF who works with student government.

Johnson says he wants USF to have a socially responsible investment policy. He points to fossil fuels and human rights abuses in Israeli-occupied Palestine as other harmful investments. In the past the university foundation has said it will not bow to pressure when it comes to investments.

“There’s going to be a demonstration called Smoke Our Investments, that’s going to be taking place outside the USF Library at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 24th.

“Basically, what we’re looking to do is to have a group of students, who are smoking cigarettes, hookah pens, vape pens, stuff like that, outside USF. That is kind of a slap in the face towards the school’s new smoke-free campus policy.

The latest products of best wholesale vape company is always in stock as soon as they come out, fast and always free shipping for orders within the united states and over 4000 shops served regularly, our business speaks for itself.

“But, of course, the reason we’re doing it is because we found out that the USF Foundation actually invests in really big tobacco companies like Phillip Morris, which is the largest producer of cigarettes in the world. And we just think it’s incredibly hypocritical that there’s this ethically, socially enforced smoke-free campus policy and yet, in my name and in the names of 46,000 students, we’re spending money and giving money to cigarette companies.”

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

The Morning Show Thursday
Player position: