Photo by Cliff Grassmick

Clyde Baggett, a CU student, holds up a sign encouraging people to vote no on Amendment 46 during a rally at the UMC Terrace on Wednesday October 22, 2008.. Amendment 46 is designed to eliminate opportunties for women and minorities. Cliff Grassmick / October 22, 2008

University of Colorado students held a campus rally today to protest Amendment 46, the state ballot measure that seeks to make it illegal to use race or gender preferences in college admissions and government hiring.

What proponents say: They consider race and gender preferences discriminatory. They say that women and minorities don't need preferences to succeed. Passage of the measure would not eliminate programs, but require colleges to lift what proponents consider discriminatory admissions or eligibility criteria. At California universities, where there is a similar affirmative-action ban, there has been an increase in minority enrollment and graduation rates at many campuses.

What opponents say: The measure would diminish the purpose of campus equal-opportunity programs, such as ones that promote women in math or minorities in engineering. They say diversity lacks at CU, with minorities making up about 14 percent of the student body. It will be a step back on progress that the school has made in light of racial episodes, including the death threat of a black student-government leader in 2005 and a controversial Campus Press column last spring about Asian students.

12:39 p.m. Rally organizers took questions from students, including one query about what programs at CU would be affected. The student organizers said summer camps to recruit middle and high-school minorities and first-generation students are among the programs in jeopardy.

Proponents of Amendment 46 say the measure wouldn't scrap programs entirely. Instead it would force colleges to lift the race or gender eligibility requirements.

The rally ended with students chanting "No on 46" as their peers headed toward class.

Some student activists are on the campus passing out fliers to advocate their position.

12:33 p.m. Israel Garcia, a CU graduate who said equal-opportunity programs helped make his education possible, criticized the roots of the initiative. He said that Colorado doesn't welcome the measure being pushed by "California millionaire" Ward Connerly.

A former University of California regent, Connerly is an African-American activist, businessman and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute. The institute is opposed to racial and gender preferences, and has passed measures in other states including Michigan, California and Washington.

Jessica Peck Corry, a CU graduate and executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, said the measure is "homegrown." In 1998, she started Equal Opportunity Alliance, a CU student group that worked to remove race and gender as a consideration in admissions.

In 2001, state Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, who was then a representative, introduced legislation that would have abolished consideration of race and gender in the public arena. A few years later, state Sen. Ed Jones, R-Colorado Springs, introduced a similar bill that died in the Senate.

12:18 p.m. Jerome Jackson, a CU student organizer of the rally, encouraged students to encourage their friends and classmates to vote against Amendment 46. He told them to ask their professors if they could chalk messages on chalkboards at the start of class.

12:14 p.m. CU Senior La'Neice Littleton, with the Black Student Association, said the "civil rights initiative" is misleading. She told her peers that their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have "gone through way worse."

"Vote No on 46," she said. "It's lies. Lies, lies, lies. And everyone should go to class after this because that's what we're fighting for."

She handed off the microphone and walked away with her backpack.

11:47 a.m. Several student speakers kicked-off the rally against Amendment 46, speaking on how the Amendment will affect their education at CU if it gets passed.

David Lucero was concerned about the financial concerns the amendment will bring to minority students. He said if the amendment passes, minority scholarships and grants would be in jeopardy.

“We didn’t get any free handouts. I’ve worked really hard to get here,” Lucero said. “I’m not going to be able to afford school without scholarships or grants.”

Jerome Jackson, a junior history and ethnic studies major said Amendment 46 would eliminate minority programs that have helped him stay at CU.

“Any program concerning women or people of color can be targeted by lawsuits if this amendment passes,” said Jackson.

Jackson also noted that CU does not use affirmative action during the admission process, but if Amendment 46 passes, the number of minorities at CU could decrease.

“This will affect enrollment for underrepresented minorities,” Jackson said, commenting on the already low minority population on CU. “Less than 15 percent minorities is pretty despicable.”

Many took issue with the Amendment disguising itself as pro-civil equalities.

“We must not allow ourselves, community leaders, or our white counterparts to be fooled by this amendment,” said speaker Charles Gilford. “We have to communicate to the majority why banning this amendment is necessary.”

11:36 a.m. Students are armed with their "Vote No on Amendment 46" signs and a 2 1/2 page list of leaders and groups that are on their side, ranging from churches to law groups.

No on 46 endorsements include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Council of Churches, AFL-CIO and the Anti-Defamation League.

Several education leaders have come out against the amendment, but University of Colorado leaders have remained mum.

11:34 a.m. About two dozen students are gathered and preparing for the rally which will get going in about 15 minutes.

They have linked the Ku Klux Klan to Amendment 46, passing out an Associated Press article from 2006 when a similar affirmative action ban was on Michigan's ballot.

The article says that Ward Connerly, the architect of the civil rights initiatives, is quoted on a YouTube video saying: "If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, God Bless them. Thank them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are being applied instead of hate."

11:14 a.m. The rally, originally planned for outside Norlin Library, is now on the terrace outside of the University Memorial Center. Organizers anticipate more foot traffic there.