Wyoming blacks suspended

Armbands caused troubles

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP)--Fourteen Negro athletes were dismissed from the undefeated University of Wyoming football team early Saturday because they wore black armbands despite their coach's order against demonstrations.

The Black Student Alliance at the university has been wearing the armbands as a protest against Brigham Young University which it declares to be "inuman and racist."

Brigham Young was the Cowboys' gridiron opponent at Laramie Saturday afternoon.

Brigham Young is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), which limites how far Negroes can advance in the church hierarchy.

The dismissal was announced before dawn after an all night meeting of teh University's trustees. Sitting in was Gov. Stan Hathaway.

A few hours later the university's student senate passed, 15-3, a resolution calling fro an open meeting between Coach Lloyed Eaton and the athletes and declaring the coach and trustees showed "an inability to evaluate reasonable action with balance." The university stand was termed "uncompromising, unjust and totally wrong."

Among the players discmissed was tri-captain Joe WIlliams, a tailback, who has been second leading rusher in the Western Athletic Conference the past two years.

Five others in the group had been expected in Saturday's starting lineup.

Wyoming went into the game with four victories and no defeats for the season. The team was rated 16th in last week's Associated Press rankings of the top 20 teams in the nation.

Williams said the athletes hadn't planned to boycott the game but he said they were wearing armbands when they went to Eaton's office Friday. He said the coach reacted angrily and said the players were suspended.

Another Negro player, Jerry [Jay] Berry, said the coach told them: "You have made your bed and you'll have to sleep in it."

Eaton could not be reached for comment before the game.

The University of Wyoming has an enrollment of 8,200, including 150 Negro students.

Coach Eaton took a record at Wyoming of 52 victories, 20 losses and 2 ties into the game with Brigham Young. He has been at Wyoming eight seasons.