YD's Won't Join Rally on Vietnam

The executive committee of Harvard-Radcliffe Young Democrats voted Monday to refuse to participate in a statewide rally planned for next month in support of the United States' Vietnam policy.

The Massachusetts Federation of Young Democrats, a statewide coalition of Young Republicans, and Young Americans for Freedom will stage the rally. A signature campaign in support of U.S. policy will be started at the same time.

Of the 11 groups in the Massachusetts Federation of Young Democrats, five, including the Harvard-Radcliffe and Harvard Law School chapters, voted not to support the rally.

Shun YAF

According to Jerrold N. Oppenheim '66, first vice-president of the Harvard-Radcliffe chapter, his group refused to support the rally "because we don't agree completely with the Administration on Vietnam." And he said, the fact that YAF is one of the rally's sponsors "certainly made us think more than twice" about endorsing it.

Dale Higer, a third-year law student and president of the Law School Young Dems, said it would be "a folly to support a rally on Vietnam with YAF." His group has drafted resolutions urging the Administration to act on its policy of seeking negotiations and economic build-up in Vietnam, supporting the last March on Washington, and the use of the United Nations in negotiations.

The Law School Young Dems sent a letter to Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54 dissassociating themselves from the rally, and urging him not to attend it. The Harvard Young Dems decided Monday to also send Kennedy such a letter.