Yale Provost Brewster Permits Wallace Invitation With 'Regrets'

Although expressing official "regrets," acting Yale University President King-man Brewster Jr. has finally allowed two Yale student groups to invite Alabama's Governor George Wallace to speak at the University.

The invitation, made by the Yale Law Forum, was extended for any date in "mid-November." Wallace could not be reached immediately for comment.

In his statement issued yesterday afternoon, Brewster reversed a decision of a week ago, when he had denied permission for the invitation. Brewster said "Yale will not stand in the way of an appearance by Governor Wallace."

Although Brewster termed the invitation both "offensive and unwise," he said that students have "the freedom" to arrange their own activities. "We will do our best to ensure order," he said.

Because of public opinion in New Haven, the two student groups have hoped that Wallace could appear at Yale after the city elections on November 5. In a conversation with the CRIMSON on Wednesday, Bill Jones, Governor Wallace's press secretary, suggested that November 5 would be the only open date on Wallace's four-day northern speaking tour. He currently plans to speak at Harvard November 4, at Penn November 6, and at Brown on November 7.

In issuing the invitation to Wallace, the two student groups allowed the Governor the choice of debating with a Yale professor. In an adjoining statement, they said: "This invitation has been extended because a substantial number of students . . . have expressed the view that Gov. Wallace, as a leading figure in one of the major controversies of our times, should be heard here."