CSUN TO KEEP DUKE : CONNERLY WON'T JOIN PROP. 209 DEBATE.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman and Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writers

Student leaders at Cal State Northridge rebuffed an offer Thursday by the Proposition 209 campaign chairman to take part in an affirmative action debate for free if former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's appearance was canceled.

The decision by student body President Vladimir Cerna and his cabinet came amid strong objections to Duke's appearance from proponents of the ``California Civil Rights Initiative,'' a measure that would end racial and gender preferences in state and local government employment, education and contracting.

CCRI campaign chairman Ward Connerly and other supporters have said having Duke make the case against affirmative action at the debate is a ploy to discredit the initiative through association with the views of the former Klan leader.

The Student Senate voted 12-11 on Tuesday to pay Duke $4,000 plus travel expenses, and $1,000 to civil rights activist Joe Hicks to debate Sept. 25. The money is coming from mandatory student fees.

Cerna said he called an emergency meeting of his cabinet Thursday to reconsider the issue after the Associated Students, the campus organization sponsoring the debate, received a flood of angry telephone calls, letters and e-mail criticizing the event.

But emerging from the two-hour meeting with 11 of his advisers, Cerna said he decided to stick with his plans.

``The question that I set up today was . . . `Are we achieving the goal of having a debate on affirmative action?' And the answer was overwhelmingly, yes.''

Connerly was en route to San Diego on Thursday night and not available for comment.

However, CCRI spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson expressed disappointment with the students' decision.

``I think it proves that from the onset, the leaders of the student group were not interested in putting on a debate that would educate the students and the public about the issue of affirmative action and racial preferences, and instead they are having a debate that would play on peoples' emotions,'' she said.

Connerly - a University of California regent who has opposed affirmative action programs - released a letter Thursday that he sent to Cal State Northridge President Blenda Wilson, saying he declined a July 23 invitation to appear at the debate when he learned Duke also would be speaking in favor of the measure.

``David Duke is a contradiction of all that is good in America. Duke and the Klan are despicable, and I will not be a part of giving them a forum to articulate their hatred and to get paid while doing so by students of California,'' Connerly wrote in the Aug. 30 letter. ``His history is that of a man who supports racial discrimination, while I am dedicated to its eradication.''

Connerly offered in the letter to appear at no cost if the invitation to Duke was rescinded and no one else ``of his background was involved'' in the event. Nelson said Connerly was waiting for a response from Cal State Northridge before releasing the letter, but decided to do so Thursday after the university did not reply.

Wilson confirmed through a spokeswoman that she had received the letter and would respond to Connerly.

However, the spokeswoman, Carmen Ramos Chandler, said it was the students, not Wilson, who had extended the original invitation for Duke to appear. She said that the university president supports their right to invite any speaker they desire.

``She said she will tell him she is proud to point out the students used their own funds and came to a decision in a democratic process that was civil and respectful of each other,'' Chandler said.

In his letter, Connerly cited his own experience as a Louisiana native in opposing Duke's appearance.

``The name David Duke summons very distasteful images from black Americans born in the South,'' Connerly said. ``I would never participate in an event at which Duke is in attendance or support an institution which gives him voice on a subject about which he has no expertise of background.

``He knows nothing about affirmative action programs and practices in California and could only be included in your event because of his reputation, sordid that it is.''

Gov. Pete Wilson's office also assailed student leaders' invitation to Duke, calling it an attempt to tar those who favor ending preferences based on race and gender.

``It's rather outrageous that they wish to equate David Duke, a racist and former member of the Ku Klux Klan, with the California Civil Rights Initiative,'' said Wilson spokesman Sean Walsh. ``He's someone on the fringes who certainly does not represent Ward Connerly, the governor or the millions who will vote for the CCRI in November.''

Also, Connerly said he was upset that, as a graduate of the CSU system, student funds were being used to pay for Duke's appearance.

``He supports white supremacy while I spend virtually every moment promoting the proposition that all people should be treated the same,'' Connerly said. ``How, therefore, could your Associated Students expect me to participate in a program with David Duke? This is truly mind-boggling.''

Duke is a former state legislator in Louisiana who is running for the U.S. Senate. In addition to his ties to the Klan, he was the head of the Association for the Advancement of White People.