The University of Pennsylvania has received a $20,000 grant under the American Cancer Society and CVS Health Foundation’s Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative. The award, timed to coincide with the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 17, recognizes the University’s ongoing efforts to create a tobacco-free campus culture.

“We are grateful to be among the recipients of the American Cancer Society/CVS Health tobacco grant as it recognizes and supports Penn’s commitment to a tobacco-free campus,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “This generous grant will greatly aid the University’s ongoing efforts to effectively address this major public-health epidemic.”

The grant was awarded to Penn’s Division of Human Resources and Campus Health and Student Health Service. The grant will examine whether removing smoking poles on campus affects cigarette-butt litter and will fund communications materials aimed at students, faculty and staff that announce Penn’s tobacco-free policy.

Penn is one of 20 colleges and universities to receive the grant, part of the Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative, a $3.6-million program intended to accelerate and expand the adoption and implementation of 100 percent smoke- and tobacco-free policies on college and university campuses across the nation.