In May and June of 2025, KYCC’s Breathe Initiative Coalition concluded a five-year campaign aimed at promoting smoke-free community colleges throughout the Los Angeles area. The Breathe Free Initiative Coalition launched in 2020 and is a tobacco control project focused on promoting smoke and tobacco-free policy campaigns at college campuses and trade schools in Los Angeles that currently lack comprehensive regulations.

In May, Breathe Initiative Coalition staff and interns had the chance to engage in discussions with representatives from Senate District 27 during Information and Education Day organized by the American Heart Association’s Tobacco Endgame Center for Organizing and Engagement, providing CA Legislatures with insights on tobacco prevention issues affecting their local area. 

Coalition members emphasized the project’s success in aiding Pierce College‘s adoption of a smoke and tobacco-free policy, with Senate District 27 staff expressing their support and a common enthusiasm for fostering a healthy, smoke-free environment for the community. With this collaboration, the Breathe Initiative Coalition is optimistic that the partnership between Senate District 27 and Pierce College will continue to thrive in the years ahead.

Throughout the Spring 2025 semester, the Breathe Initiative Coalition collaborated closely with Pierce College students and staff to ensure the continuation of the smoke-free policy following the conclusion of the project. Campus partners, including the Brahma Bodega Basic Needs Program and the Student Health Center, were assigned the responsibility of organizing smoke-free events like the Youth Summit and campus cleanup. These activities aim to foster a sense of ownership regarding the smoke-free initiative across the campus.

“Within the past five years, Breathe Initiative Coalition has worked with multiple community colleges such as Santa Monica College, Los Angeles Missions College, Los Angeles Pierce College, and College of the Canyons. Even though the project was only able to pass a smoke-free policy at Los Angeles Pierce College, we also had the privilege to recruit and maintain interns from other colleges who helped establish the foundation/groundwork for our project’s success at LAPC. We hope that our past presence in these colleges will spark future initiatives that will support the campus communities in advocating for equitable health for all,” says Ian Panaroma, Prevention Coordinator. 

Breathe Initiative Coalition would like to thank all of our partners, interns, and coalition members for their dedication in advocating for a healthy campus environment for all. Pierce College’s move to adopt a smoke-, tobacco- and vape-free policy provides a safer and healthier environment which allows for increased academic excellence for students. This movement is one that we hope will continue across all community colleges in the Los Angeles area, and California as a whole.

Thank you to Pierce College and the California Department of Public Health