Craven Community College has removed a picture from its public areas because it features a popular professor smoking a cigar. According to an article in the New Bern Sun-Journal:
Students in Craven Community College’s auto body program airbrushed the hood of a 1982 Mercury Capri drag racing car with a portrait of automotive instructor Robert Hall gripping a wrench in each hand of his crossed arms.
The vibrant airbrushed image, which has been hanging in the hallway of the Student Center on the New Bern campus, also shows him smoking a cigar. But it’s an image college officials say does not go with the campus smoking policy, which has caused it to be removed and some students to be upset.
The offending image, which was produced by students as a gift for Hall, can be seen in the article. Like many colleges Craven Community College now has a policy against smoking. The college forbids tobacco use by students, staff, faculty and visitors in all campus buildings or property.
Hall, who runs the school’s automotive systems technology program, often smokes a cigar while he’s at the sports park racing cars.
Craven Community College is located in New Bern, North Carolina. North Carolina is the United States’ leading producer of tobacco. About 14 percent of North Carolina’s total agricultural income comes from tobacco products.
