Judith Sylvester, a mass communication professor at Louisiana State University, founded SmokingWords in 2000 as a program advocating tobacco-free living. Since its start, SmokingWords has increased its efforts to make Louisiana State University a tobacco-free campus. Dr. Sylvester created the program through a Board of Regents Health Excellence grant and later partnered with the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, a statewide tobacco-control program funded by a state excise tax on tobacco passed in 2002. SmokingWords is also a partner with Fresh Campus, a campaign that empowers college students to cause social change on campuses by focusing efforts on tobacco-free university policies.