Massey University is trespassing nine members of a church group from its Palmerston North campus for allegedly harassing students.
Some students have taken to social media to report their encounters with Victory Christian Church members, including apparently being lured into conversation with the chance to win a bicycle before being told they are “going to hell”.
"I talked to them to go into the draw to win a bike. No bike, but apparently I'm going to Hell... Gutted,” one student wrote on Facebook.
"I said I wasn't interested and they convinced me to enter anyway so I did, so I'd be left alone...then they asked me questions about my life for general conversation and apparently my life choices make me a bad person and I am going to hell ... Unfortunately I didn't win the bike either."
University spokesman James Gardiner said concerns over the church members' behavior had been raised over several years.
No formal complaint has been laid, but the university recently decided it needed to take action. The church members’ presence on campus was often upsetting for students, he said.
"Students should be able to walk around the campus without feeling harassed," he said.
Massey University Students' Association president Linsey Higgins says many students will be relieved by the university's decision to ban the nine members.
"I think there will be a lot of students that will feel happy about it," she said.
"We have had informal concerns raised with us about this group for a while now, unfortunately we haven't had any formal complainants so we've been unable to follow up on them."
Despite several attempts to contact the Victory Church and its pastor Joel Miller, he could not be reached.
*A version of this story by Adriana Weber was originally published on radionz.co.nz.
