Derby Day Is Saved by New Oceanside Site

Scattered groups of Yalies, remained inconsolable yesterday over the ban on Derby Day, but most of the Elis were brightened by the announcement of an alternate site for the annual spring outing.

Hammonasset Beach will replace Derby, Connecticut, as the backdrop of the frolic which has been revamped to include intramural sports, a rugby match, less liquor than usual, and a new "attitude of restraint." The new site is 25 miles east of New Haven on route one.

Yale lowered the boom on Derby Day two weeks ago when the undergraduate activities committee voted 8 to 6 against it. Of the nine faculty members on the committee, six voted to discontinue the Housatonic River festivities.

Student reaction was immediate and intense. Two thousand Elis marched in a torchlight parade to the home of President A. Whitney Griswold, who showed little sympathy for the demonstration. He termed it "an organized ring-led mob" and denounced Derby Day as an "organized debauch."

Local opinion was divided on the ban. The Evening Sentinel, speaking for Derby and several neighboring towns, termed Derby Day "loads of fun" and accused Yale of harboring a "New England conscience."

A local newscaster took a swipe at the outing and the revellers, suggesting that instead of water pistols (a traditional Derby Day feature), the students should be given rifles to "join the kids out there in Korea who never had a chance to learn all the things they teach in college."

Many Yalies question whether the new location will change the character of the outing. "It will be the same old debauch in a new place," one stated last night.