University of Virginia Library

Gregory Detained;
Phillips Figured As
Possible Substitute

By Peter Shea

If Dick Gregory is to speak at
the University it may well have to
be sometime during August.

Mr. Gregory, who had been
scheduled to appear here for the
"Counter Sesquicentennial" being
sponsored by the coalition on
Founder's Day, has turned himself
over to the Chicago police.

At the moment, he is serving a
five-month sentence for his part in
the disturbances which occurred this
past August during the Democratic
Convention in Chicago.

Yesterday, Charles Murdock, the
member of the coalition who made
the arrangements for Mr. Gregory's
appearance, called the manager of
the famous comedian-speaker and
was informed that Mr. Gregory may
still be available next Monday.

About this time last year, Mr.
Murdock was informed, Mr. Gregory
found himself in a similar
situation, as he was serving another
sentence. The recent political aspirant's
manager reported that the
authorities involved in that particular
case released Mr. Gregory so
that he could meet the large
number of speaking engagements
for which he had already been
contacted.

According to Mr. Murdock,
negotiations are under way to
arrange a similar agreement. Mr.
Gregory has an estimated 80
engagements to fill between now
and the end of spring, including the
speech at the University. Mr.
Murdock said that "we would know
by Wednesday."

Mr. Murdock expressed confidence
that Mr. Gregory will make
the noon speech next Monday. The
site of the address has not been
decided, however, several possible
locations have been mentioned.
These include the steps of the
Rotunda, St. Paul's Episcopal
Church Cabell Hall Auditorium and
Memorial Gym.

Plans are uncertain if the situation
develops where Mr. Gregory
is not able to deliver the address at
the coalition's rally. However, Mr.
Murdock said that several alternates
have been, and are still being,
discussed.

Mr. Murdock reported the most
likely replacement for Mr. Gregory
is the Reverend Channing Phillips.
Mr. Phillips, a Negro leader from
Washington, was one of the candidates
for the Democratic presidential
nomination during the last
election.

In other news concerning the
Sesquicentennial, it has been
rumored that Senators Edward
Kennedy and Hugh Scott were
going to appear at the Founder's
Day ceremonies. Sources in Washington,
however, say that there are
no such plans.

The Pennsylvania Republican is
currently in Vienna and is not
scheduled to return until Monday.
Senator Kennedy, presently in
Indiana, also has other engagements,
Washington reported.