RALEIGH-- A federal judge will decide whether a Christian student group at N.C. State University is suffering harm after a university policy requires student groups to obtain a permit to distribute literature on campus or engage people walking by.

The organization, Grace Christian Life, filed a lawsuit in April, claiming the university selectively enforced its permit policy on the group.

A federal judge heard arguments from attorneys representing both sides Thursday during a hearing.

Attorneys representing Grace Christian Life claim the university has unconstitutionally restricted its free speech rights.

"The biggest concern is that you have a policy that tries to regulate one on one conversations,” said Edmund LaCour, an attorney representing Grace Christian Life.

The lawsuit says in September 2015, the university told members of Grace in the Talley Student Union they were not allowed to approach students for the purpose of engaging in religious conversations without first obtaining prior written permission of the university.

 “We talk about 15,000 people pass through Talley everyday talking to one another, handing out pieces of papers, exchanging books, whatever. And as far as we know, only Grace has been singled out for non-permitted speech,” said LaCour.

Meanwhile, attorneys representing N.C. State University contend the rules are in place to improve campus safety and limit distractions to education.

University officials say the implication that an organization has been treated differently on campus because they are a religious group is not accurate.

The university released a statement Thursday:

“NC State believes this lawsuit is both frivolous and without merit.

The implication that an organization has been treated differently on our campus because they are a religious group is false.

Individuals are of course free to engage others in conversations about their faith on campus. That free speech right is protected by the U.S. Constitution, and NC State not only protects but also defends the right of free speech for this group and all groups committed to the open exchange of ideas regardless of viewpoint.

Universities use a permitting or registration process for the distribution of materials by any group to manage the volume of requests, pedestrian traffic concerns, prevent overlapping time and location bookings, and to ensure that the university can carry out its primary mission of teaching students.

Grace Christian Life utilized space in Talley Student Union more than 190 times through the reservation process during the 2015-16 academic year.

GCL continues to reserve space in Talley and already has 63 confirmed reservations for the 2016-17 fiscal year, with 24 of those for lobby tables.”

A U.S. District judge could decide as early as Saturday whether N.C. State can continue requiring permits while the lawsuit is pending.