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In April, police at the University of Pittsburgh got involved in the sort of operation they'd prefer to avoid.
They sent a team of plainclothes officers to monitor a religious organization's effort to meet with students on campus.
Police said they were told the group, the International Churches of Christ, had a reputation for aggressive practices and that it planned to gather in a common area of the student union because it did not have permission from Pitt to use meeting rooms. "It was a responsible reaction for us to have somebody present," Pitt Public Safety Director Rick Boyd said. "But it's a very difficult issue. If there's supposed to be a bastion for free expression, it should be on a university campus."
The officers were ordered not to do or say anything that would impede the group's activities, and to act only if a physical confrontation occurred, Boyd said. The meeting was vocal, but went off without any trouble. The officers quietly left.
The incident illustrates the dilemma colleges face in trying to balance a student's right to associate freely with the school's responsibility to keep the campus safe. Err too...