Mar 11, 2014 11:09 AM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of California may be able to consider race, gender, and national origin  during the admissions process if a state constitutional amendment passes this November, Campus Reform reported.

In 1996, the amendment - Proposition 209 - to the California Constitution was passed, preventing state institutions from giving preferential treatment to groups in employment, contracting, and education. The proposed amendment - SCA 5 - would nullify the restrictions imposed by Proposition 209, which restricts admission standards on the basis of "race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin," Campus Reform reported.

SCA 5 was passed on Jan. 30 by the California Senate and now awaits passage by the California State Assembly. Democratic State Senator Edward Hernandez authored the legislation as a response to the decrease in enrollment of students of color within the University of California system.

Shelly Meron, spokeswoman for the University of California Office said the University would not necessarily have to change any of its current admissions policies if the amendment is passed.

"Nothing in SCA 5 requires the University to revise its admissions policies," Meron said in an email to The Daily Nexus, University of California, Santa Barbara's student-run newspaper. . "Also, even if SCA 5 were approved by California voters, UC would remain bound by federal and other state law."

Fourth-year student and College Republican Keith Ahnert told The Daily Nexus that the proposed amendment is another example of liberal policymaking.

"Liberals use inequality as a major theme in their agendas, but they often promote the same inequality they denounce in order to achieve their own version of equality," Ahnert said.

He argued that inequality can't be fixed "by reversing the inequality and giving preferential treatment to one race."

Ansel Lundberg, a third-year student and Campus Democrat, disagreed.  He told The Daily Nexus that affirmative action is needed in order "to [decrease] inequality," even though it is not the "perfect system for getting underprivileged students into college."

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