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The incident happened when about 400 students gathered at about noon around the Dalton Trumbo Fountain near the student union to rally against a possible war in Iraq.

The peaceful protest deteriorated about 1½ hours later when university custodians turned off the sound system under school policy to prevent the disruption of classes after 1 p.m.

University police moved in to disperse the crowd and the students pushed back.

"The sound system was unplugged and then one of the protesters attempted to gain entry back into the building to plug it back in," CU police spokesman Tim McGraw said.

Several demonstrators tried to enter the student union to try to plug in the amplifiers, but were stopped by campus police, who used pepper spray on about a dozen students, 7NEWS reported.

"He said to us, 'Get ready to get Maced,' and the second we broke through the door, six to 10 people were Maced," said a CU student who was only identified by his first name, Jordon.

Afterward, the crowd surged into the lobby of the student union and about 200 students remained there peacefully for much of the afternoon.

Although no students were arrested, university officials said school policy is if any student is caught breaking the law, that student will be held accountable for his or her actions.

Ron Stump, the vice chancellor for student affairs, told the students that he will look into the matter. He said he is not happy that anyone was Maced, and agreed that there should be place on campus for rallies that extend beyond the lunch hour.

The fountain area where rallies are currently held faces classrooms, so a school rule established in the 1970s said that rallies must end by 1 p.m. so that classes will not be disrupted.

Police will look into the matter further by looking at videos and talking to witnesses, McGraw said.

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