Last month the Geographic Health Equity Alliance and one of CADCA’s Master Trainers, Dylan Ellerbee, partnered to host a one-day, in person training workshop for the Eliminate Tobacco Use (ETU) Virginia Summit. The ETU Virginia Summit is organized by the ETU VA Steering Committee, a group that meets monthly to focus on tobacco free higher education across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Committee is made up of people affiliated with a college/university or a tobacco control organization. The ETU initiative was founded in 2015 by the University of Texas to address tobacco use across colleges and universities. It has grown into a nationwide initiative with state summits held in Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, and Missouri.  

Picture taken by ETU VA

Topics at ETU VA Summit

  1. Building multi-sector, multi-level, multi-ethnic coalitions or committees to engage in tobacco free college campus work
  2.  Data collection on college campuses to support tobacco free policy, systems, and environmental change work
  3. Discussed Executive Order 41
  4. Reviewed report cards that were created to assist colleges and universities in VA with understanding their current tobacco free campus policies and how to improve them 

If you are interested in learning more about the Eliminate Tobacco Use Initiative and its work towards tobacco free college campuses, please visit their website: https://eliminatetobaccouse.org/.