CSUN PRESIDENT DEFENDS STUDENT STAND ON DUKE.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer Rejecting the Proposition 209 campaign chief's request that she intervene, Cal State Northridge President Blenda Wilson defended Friday a student decision to invite former KKK grand wizard
Grand Wizard was the title given to the overall leader of the earliest form of the Ku Klux Klan, which formed during Southern Reconstruction. David Duke David Ernest Duke is a former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, a candidate in presidential primaries for both the Democratic and Republican parties, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. to an on-campus debate. In a telephone conference call with reporters, Wilson said she would not weigh in on the controversial decision by the Associated Students to have Duke appear at a Sept. 25 debate with civil rights activist Joe Hicks Joe Hicks can refer to:
``There has been no role played by me or the university administration in planning this event, or for that matter in interjecting our views about the qualifications or desirability of the speakers,'' Wilson said. The university's first African-American president declined to discuss her personal views on the invitation to Duke. ``My personal views are irrelevant,'' she said. ``My obligation as university president is to uphold up·hold tr.v. up·held , up·hold·ing, up·holds 1. To hold aloft; raise: upheld the banner proudly. 2. To prevent from falling or sinking; support. 3. those values (of free speech.)'' While she noted that ``inexperienced in·ex·pe·ri·ence n. 1. Lack of experience. 2. Lack of the knowledge gained from experience. in young people'' might not make the same judgments as older adults, she defended their right to make those decisions. Wilson also released a written response to UC regent and Proposition 209 Chairman Ward Connerly's request Aug. 30 that she step in. In reply to Connerly's request to speak at the debate in place of Duke, she explained that the invitation was not issued by the university or herself, but by the students. ``Therefore the decision to rescind To declare a contract void—of no legal force or binding effect—from its inception and thereby restore the parties to the positions they would have occupied had no contract ever been made. rescind v. the invitation is not mine to make,'' states Wilson's letter sent to Connerly on Thursday and released publicly Friday. In the letter, Wilson said she supports the right of students to utilize the democratic process in allocating their budget to invite speakers, however controversial, to public forums on campus. She said only if there were a threat to campus safety would she have the authority to step in and cancel a campus speaker's appearance. ``If the issue were the nature of the speaker, or the name of the speaker, or the views of the speaker, then I have no authority, nor would I want authority,'' said Wilson, who passed along Connerly's request to the Associated Students. ``But any event that poses a threat to public safety I have the responsibility to step in.'' Connerly, who also is African-American, is seeking through Proposition 209 to ban racial, ethnic and gender preferences in state affirmative action programs. He released a statement Friday expressing his disappointment with the students' refusal to rescind Duke's invitation. The Student Senate voted 12-11 on Tuesday to approve a $4,000 payment to Duke to appear, and Thursday the president of the Associated Students and his cabinet rejected Connerly's offer to replace Duke for free. ``Unfortunately, the students have decided to hear Duke's warped and inflamed view of affirmative action, racial preferences and Proposition 209, instead of sponsoring a reasoned, rational debate,'' Connerly said in his statement. ``. . . Voters will see this tactic as a dirty trick Noun 1. dirty trick - an unkind or aggressive trick antic, prank, put-on, joke, trick, caper - a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement dirty trick n → mala jugada, that offends and insults the millions of Californians who oppose preferences, but want nothing to so with the KKK.'' CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge student body President Vladimir Cerna on Friday defended the decision to bring in Duke, saying the debate will focus solely on affirmative action, not Proposition 209. He denied charges that Duke had been invited in an effort to cloud the debate over Prop. 209. Wilson, who has been criticized by backers of Proposition 209 for allowing Duke to come onto the campus, said she doesn't believe that the Duke invitation is an effort to taint taint an unpleasant odor and flavor in a human foodstuff of animal origin. Caused by the ingestion of the substance, commonly a plant such as Hexham scent, or while in storage, e.g. milk stored with pineapples, or as a result of animal metabolism, e.g. boar taint. the Prop. 209 debate. ``Unequivocally it's untrue un·true adj. un·tru·er, un·tru·est 1. Contrary to fact; false. 2. Deviating from a standard; not straight, even, level, or exact. 3. Disloyal; unfaithful. and has no base in fact,'' she said, pointing out that Duke was called upon only after several other potential speakers declined due to scheduling conflicts. Wilson also revealed that contrary to student reports, she will not introduce Duke in the upcoming debate because she plans to be in Seattle on Sept. 25. Wilson said the publicity surrounding Duke's impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. visit has been disruptive to the university, but she acknowledged that CSUN is a public university and that she respects the public's right to hold CSUN accountable in defining the values that undergird the institution. One of the pluses has been that the debate has sparked intense discussions among students and between students and faculty, said Wilson. She said those discussions have focused on the balance between rights and responsibility and how you can justify bringing someone on campus whose reputation offends many people. |
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