BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Cookie sales were dead at an anti-affirmative action bake sale at Indiana University Wednesday, though the debate it sparked was anything but.

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Bake Sale Sparks Debate

Dozens of students gathered near the bake-sale table, discussing -- sometimes with raised voices -- the pros and cons of affirmative action.

The event -- during which cookies were offered at different prices based on a buyer's race -- was run by a student group that hopes to persuade IU officials to stop collecting racial data, particularly in the admissions and hiring process.

"I think what is ignorant is to factor something like race or gender into the admissions process," event organizer Alex Gude, who is white, told RTV6's Kristi Tedesco.

Cookie prices were $1 for white males, 75 cents for white females, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

One cookie was sold. No one signed the group's petition protesting IU's gathering of racial information, Tedesco reported.

The event was similar to a Southern Methodist University bake sale that attracted national media coverage in September. The Texas school stopped that sale, citing school policy banning events that disrupt normal university operations.

At Wednesday's event, some people questioned the group's approach.

"I am German. My mom is French (and) black; my father is white. I'm not African-American; I'm not Latino. So what is my price as far as (cookies go)?" student Dietrich Willke said.

Accounting student Erland Porter, who is black, said he valued the discussions that the event started.

"There are definitely opposing views concerning affirmative action, so this is a good way to bring the dialogue together," Porter said.

The university says it does not look at ethnicity when it comes to admitting undergraduate students, though the federal government requires that the data be taken for students and staff. However, IU's law school does weigh race among several other factors, Tedesco reported.

IU officials declined RTV6's request for an on-camera interview.