Some students at the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are fuming over a decision announced by their chancellor last week. On Wednesday, the day before a state law that prohibits smoking in any public place in Pennsylvania took effect, Chancellor John Cavanaugh informed them that the ban would be enforced everywhere on the system’s campuses, even outdoors.

The system’s 110,000 students got the word by e-mail late in the day, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Cavanaugh said he had discussed the new law with university presidents and system board members, and decided that it extended beyond buildings to include all campus grounds, such as courtyards, parking lots, and athletics fields.

On Monday students on several campuses lit up in protest, and while some received warnings, none were arrested. Officials have not discussed how the universities should respond to persistent violators, Mr. Cavanaugh told the AP. “We don’t expect anyone to be able to stop [smoking] overnight,” he said. “We’re not taking a position that our campus police are going to go around and round up people.”

At West Chester University, one dismayed smoker told The Quad, the student newspaper, that she “almost cried” after hearing about the ban. But another student was delighted, saying it was “nice to walk out of a building and not gag.”

According to the American Lung Association, more than 130 colleges and universities ban smoking on their entire campus, and at least 500 additional campuses prohibit tobacco use in residence halls. In a report last week, the association credited smoke-free laws and policies in part for a recent decline in the proportion of college students who smoke tobacco. —Charles Huckabee