La Roche College removed copies of the student newspaper from its campus, saying an opinion column supporting condom use could have been misinterpreted by families who visited the Catholic school last weekend.

Security personnel confiscated about 900 copies of The La Roche Courier from various distribution points, school officials confirmed yesterday. The removal on Saturday occurred a day before the college was to host an admissions open house for prospective students and their parents.

The school's action, as well as the student's choice of topic for the column, drew a range of responses on and off the campus.

Ken Service, vice president for institutional relations, said La Roche was not trying to stifle student expression or interfere with the campus press. Rather, he said, the piece was at odds with La Roche's religious values and could have created a wrong impression about the college at a time when students are deciding where to enroll.

"On campus, people are familiar with the student newspaper and would recognize that this particular column was an individual's opinion and not reflective of an institutional position," Service said. "There was concern that parents of prospective students might not recognize that."

The column, written by Editor in Chief Nicole Johnson, appeared in the April 14 edition under a headline that said La Roche "should teach responsibility."

Johnson wrote that pamphlets could be found on campus explaining where someone can drop off an unwanted baby.

"But I have one question," Johnson wrote. "Where are the condoms?"

She argued that "condoms and other forms of contraception could eliminate unwanted babies out of wedlock" and the resulting societal ills "much more effectively than a few bits of information on where to dump the child you never wanted."

In a phone interview yesterday, Johnson, 22, a senior from Penn Hills, said she viewed the paper's removal as censorship and questioned how a column under her byline could be misconstrued as an official college position.

"I think it's disgraceful. How can you shut off somebody's opinion?" she said.

Service said the college-supported paper prints 1,500 copies of each edition. He said many students saw the paper anyway because it was available on campus for three days before it was removed.

A Virginia group advocating student free press rights said confiscation of papers is a recurring problem on college campuses. Mike Hiestand, an attorney and legal consultant for the group, said he didn't buy La Roche's explanation.

"They took the papers because they didn't want anybody else to read them. That's plain and simple," said Hiestand, of the Student Press Law Center. "It's censorship."

Opinions on campus varied.

Edward Brett, a history professor and member of a board that advises the paper, said he was uncomfortable with both the student's column and the school's response to it.

"This is a Catholic college. Obviously that piece is not in accordance with Catholic beliefs," he said. "I would think you're courting problems when you do that."

At the same time, he added, removing the papers "was a little bit of overkill."

Brett said he would have preferred instead that someone write a rebuttal to encourage a healthy dialogue on the subject.

Linda Jordan Platt, director of college writing and another board member, said the college has repeatedly stated that it supports academic and press freedoms.

"Given the college's stated policy, I would tend to accept the explanation that the presence of people on campus who are not familiar with the paper was the motivating factor ... and not an attempt to censor opinions of students," she said.