Representatives from Truth Initiative®, a national public health organization that
is inspiring tobacco-free lives and building a culture where all youth and young adults
reject tobacco, were on Western Nebraska Community College's Scottsbluff Campus Tuesday
morning as part of its truth® College Tour.
WNCC earned a stop on the truth® College Tour by being one of the top three Truth Initiative Grantee Schools in new
enlistment numbers last year toward supporting an environmental activism effort. WNCC
students Gabriella Rodriguez and Megan Jarman led the enlistment efforts through WNCC's
student organization Don't Kill the Cat.
"This is such a big campaign and the fact that they're here at Western Nebraska is
a cool experience for us," said Jarman, a sophomore at WNCC. "The Western Nebraska
community has been really supportive in everything we do, so it's cool to see this
support."
The tour stop included music, games, giveaways, and contests to encourage WNCC students
to join a tobacco-free movement.
"We just want to focus and support Western Nebraska Community College and its efforts
on becoming a smoke-free campus, and provide a fun experience for everyone today,"
said Denise Smith, senior manager of community and youth engagement for Truth Initiative.
"At the same time, we want to make sure we're continuing to educate people and provide
them with the resources for the people that do want to quit."
According to truth®, 99 percent of smokers began tobacco usage before the age of 26, which makes college
students a critical audience for the truth® campaign toward aiding current tobacco users in quitting and reducing exposure to
secondhand smoke for all.
"We try to combat that with having these events and educational activities before
that age, and before they become addicted, so we found the college space is the best
place to go to educate students about this issue," Smith said.
Rodriguez, Jarman, and members of Don't Kill the Cat have worked on raising awareness
of tobacco usage on the Scottsbluff Campus by hosting a cigarette butt clean-up last
spring. Around 20 students volunteered their time to help with the pick-up.
"It was way more people than I thought we were going to have, because we're picking
up cigarette butts, you know?" Jarman said. "That's not the most fun thing."
Don't Kill the Cat has also hosted a pizza social, bowling event, and breakfast burrito
social to help raise awareness and support toward the organization's goal of creating
a tobacco-free campus.
"Seeing how many people are willing to sign the petition and help us has been the
best experience for me," said Rodriguez, a sophomore Human Services major. "To know
there are a lot of people that do want to support us and want to see our community
get better at the college is amazing."