I graduated from the University in 1969 and am saddened to see that the University has made the regrettable decision to make the campus smoke-free. If Albert Einstein were still alive, he would not be welcome on the University campus — he used to walk around the Princeton campus smoking his pipe. Churchill would also not be welcome because he smoked cigars every day.

Prohibition did not stop people from drinking beer or alcohol, and the smoking ban on campus will not stop people from smoking.

There was a wonderful short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald published in the Aug. 6, 2012, issue of The New Yorker. The story, entitled “Thank You for the Light,” followed a hard-working woman who was feeling stressed out and wanted to smoke a cigarette to help her relax. She walks into a Catholic cathedral to have a smoke but discovers she has no matches.

In despair, she sits down in a pew under the image of the Virgin Mary statue and dozes off. When she awakens a little while later, she finds her cigarette has somehow been miraculously lit. She thanks the Virgin for the light. In Fitzgerald’s story, even the Virgin Mary has more tolerance for smokers than the University does.

The University has gone too far when it takes away the right to enjoy a smoke while walking on the Quad — a practice that will cause no health threats of any substantial nature.

Ray Bradbury’s famous book “Farenheit 451” comes to mind as a result of the University’s anti-smoking policy. Instead of banning smoking, the University could have done something positive like giving free counseling or medication to those who would like to stop smoking.