Religious group stirs debate at Indiana University Southeast.

The following was written by guest reporter Tim Deatrick.

What started out as a serene, almost summer-like day on the Indiana University Southeast campus turned into a mid-afternoon conflict pitting the controversial Old Past Path Baptist Church of Campbellsburg, Indiana against approximately one hundred university students at the university clock tower, an area that according to university police is considered a free speech zone.

The demonstrators from the church, which included several women and children, engaged students in shouting matches and according to one eyewitness, Student Government Assocation Senator and graduate student Winston Wilson, a near fight that required university police to separate the student and demonstrator.

“You could see that it was escalating,” Wilson said. “The IUS police had to push the student back. I will give the police credit; they stepped in and stopped what could have become a bad situation.”

According to the recently hired IUS Police Chief, Jason Goodrich, the church group was allowed on campus due to a policy established by Indiana University that designates a free speech zone in recognition of first amendment rights.

“They don’t need a demonstration permit because of official IU policy that establishes the free speech zone,” Goodrich explained. “ If the students would just ignore them they would more than likely leave because they are trying to incite them and get them upset.”

The church group, with its conflict tactics and inflammatory signs, has a record of arrests but according to its pastor, John Lewis, the group has learned from its past mistakes and does not apologize for its tactics.

“We used to get arrested but we have learned how to not get arrested anymore,” he said. “We are here to preach the gospel and according to the Apostle Paul, the truth is confrontational.”

Some IUS students didn’t see it Lewis’s way. Sadie Scott, an IUS sophomore, said the group offended her. “These people are a horrible witness for Christ,” she said. Taylor Eversold agreed. “I'm ashamed that IUS kids who don’t believe in God have to see this.”

The campus Christian Student Fellowship neither approves of Lewis's group nor agrees with the group's tactics, according to president Rebecca Howie and campus minister Tim Elliott.

“We do not approve of what they did,” Howie said. “They are saying that God hates and that isn’t true.”

Elliott concurred. “We don’t like it when they come here,” he explained. “We have no affiliation with them whatsoever and we have to spend weeks cleaning up the mess they leave after they come here. The Christian Student fellowship students invest their time here and really care about this community, (and) this group -- if they really cared about spreading the word of God, would spend more than an hour here for a shouting match and preaching hate.”

Attempts to reach Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ruth Garvey Nix, who was present during the demonstration, were unsuccessful, but Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, Stephen Taksar, stated that the university had no comment.