Kyiv-Mohyla Academy President Serhiy Kvit instituted a campus-wide smoking ban. An exclusive Q&A with the man who first banned smoking at a higher educational institute: Serhiy Kvit

Smoking among youth in Ukraine seems to be getting worse all the time. In the past 15 years, more Ukrainians have been lighting up. Girls and women are increasingly joining this death march, attracted by such marketing gimmicks as pretty, slim and pink packs of cigarettes.

The World Health Organization says more than 100,000 Ukrainians die prematurely from smoking-related diseases each year. About 40 percent of the nation’s adults smoke, with as many as 10 percent of smokers taking their first drag at the age of 10.

Amid these sad statistics, a positive trend is also taking place in Ukrainian society as more individuals seek to kick the habit. The stars are aligned behind this effort. On May 31, which is World No Tobacco Day, about 100 well-known Ukrainians signed a “Manifesto Against Smoking.”

One of them was Serhiy Kvit, president of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the nation’s top universities with more than 4,000 students.

Kvit turned his signature into direct action to protect non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand, or passive, smoking. Since Sept. 1, the start of the new school year, smoking has been prohibited on the entire campus – inside buildings and outside on the grounds.

The complete smoking ban on campus came as a surprise to students, accustomed to smoking on academy grounds. University guards are supposed to enforce the ban, but they appear to be too busy smoking to do so.

Many smokers said they abide by the ban, and some even agree with it. Non-smokers say they hope the smoke-free campus helps people to quit the habit. “I absolutely agree with the prohibition,” one student said. “I am allergic to tobacco smoke and I can’t stand these smoking crowds.”

Indoor smoking bans aren’t the only way to reduce smoking, but experts say they help.

The most effective method, however, is raising taxes on cigarettes to make them more expensive. Surveys show that most smokers want to quit, and higher-priced cigarettes help them do so. Ukraine’s cigarettes, however, are among the lowest-priced and lowest-taxed in Europe.

To clear the air, the following is an excerpt of an interview with Kvit.


KP: What was the purpose for the complete smoking ban on campus? There were special places for smoking before, and everything seemed to be ok.

SK: There is one thing you need to know. There were some special places. That is correct. But students simply ignored the rules. And not only the students. I haven’t seen any staff [violate the rules], but there are several organizations located on academy grounds whose personnel ignored these restrictions. Second, smoking is in the past for all civilized universities around the globe. It is normal that smoking is prohibited on campus.


KP: How, in your opinion, will banning smoking on campus affect the number of smokers among the student body? Will there be any propaganda for healthy living?

SK: Well, there is plenty of propaganda. I have given many interviews in the mass media, and there is a lot of information inside the university. Since 2006, when we partially prohibited smoking on campus, there were many complaints from the students. Some of them thought that it decreased their rights. There have been many debates on this topic among the student body. It has been a problem of our inner corporate culture, but now it is solved. Will the number of smokers decrease? Hopefully, yes. You see, there are many impressions about this right now. Firstly, there have been no complaints about the full prohibition of smoking. This decision was appropriate in the situation. It is like a new stage of development in our corporate culture. Hopefully, some people will quit smoking, while others will smoke off campus. The main problem here is the problem of habit. People get used to being in a certain place with certain friends and with cigarettes. That’s where the habit develops. In their minds, students understand that this habit is bad, but they can do nothing about it.


KP: Are there many students who violate the smoking ban, and what’s the punishment?

SK: There were some, but they did so only because they didn’t know about the new rule. At first, we withdrew student identity cards from the violators, but later we suspended this practice. Now we give only a written warning to those who are still trying to smoke on campus.


KP: Will the prohibition of smoking help the image of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy?

SK: As a matter of fact, it already has. It has been quite unexpected, by the way. When I was returning from a business trip, I read some foreign newspapers with some notes about the [university’s] prohibition on smoking. That was a big surprise for all of us. Because when we adopted this prohibition, we thought about our corporate culture and ways to strengthen it. Finally, it turned out that we would lead by example.