By Robert Salonga

The following is an excerpt of an article that appeared in UCLA's daily campus newspaper, The Daily Bruin.

After the voices of more than 1,000 peaceful protesters echoed throughout UCLA, several hundred students took over Royce Hall March 14, demanding that the UC Board of Regents vote to repeal its ban on affirmative action.

"I fight today for people who fought for equal access before us and for future generations," said Ryan Smith, a member of the African Student Union. "We will not be denied."

The takeover was the culmination of two marches and several speeches throughout the day to call for the repeal of the regents' 1995 policies, SP-1 and 2, that ended affirmative action in university admissions and hiring.

"The last time there were this many students, a student demonstration this powerful, was when they passed the policies," said Undergraduate Students Association Council Internal Vice President Elias Enciso at the day's end. "It was a really emotional day."

Demonstrators carried banners, signs and stickers with the words "Access Denied" imprinted on them - referring to the drop in the number of under-represented minority students admitted to the UC since the loss of affirmative action.

Coordinated by the Affirmative Action Coalition, the first march eventually settled in front of the James West Alumni Center, where the regents were meeting, where students chanted "You work for us," to the regents.

After negotiations between students and administrators, a delegation of four students, including ASU Chair Karren Lane, went inside the alumni center to speak with the regents.

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a regent by virtue of his office, emerged from the board meeting with Lane and a contingent of bodyguards to tell the crowd why the vote to repeal SP-1 would not be on the regents' agenda until the May meeting.

"If we took the vote today, it wouldn't pass," Bustamante said as some protesters drowned out his voice. "We're going to make sure that when the vote comes, we put this thing away."

Demonstrators responded by shouting "Show us, don't tell us," accompanied by the beating of drums.

Noni Limar of the African Student Union refuted Bustamante's claim, saying the regents have postponed action for six years.

"In May, they may postpone it again; we can't afford to wait," Limar said, adding that even if the repeal is on the May agenda, it will not affect next year's admissions policies.

Even if the regents were to repeal SP-1, the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 by California voters, which eliminated affirmative action in all state-funded programs, would still make affirmative action illegal under state law.

Following their exit, the demonstrators collected in front of Royce and chanted, "We'll be back and we'll be better."