Granville Hicks '23, often referred to in horrified whispers as an "avowed" Communist, announced yesterday that he had accepted a challenge to debate publicly in Boston with the Reverend Edward Lodge Curran, president of the International Catholic Truth Society.

In his reply to Father Curran, Hicks said, "I welcome the opportunity to join with you in the exercise of this democratic function."

No date has yet been set for the verbal scuffle, which will deal with the issue "Communism Is the Enemy of American Democracy." The sponsor of the meeting is the Economic Security League and it will hire a hall, provide tickets.

At the same time, Hicks said that he would ignore the defl thrown at him by Thomas Dorgan, father of the Teachers' Oath Bill, who demands Hicks' dismissal from Harvard. Dorgan, an ex-representative now referred to as a "legislative agent," had requested Hicks to debate him on Communism and had offered to rent Langdell Hall for the proceedings, with gate receipts to charity.