In a letter to the New York Times printed yesterday. Professor Kenneth Colegrove said he was "deeply depressed" that the Times had run a United Press story falsely accusing him of calling Harvard Professor Rupert Emerson a pro-Communist. Colegrove's letter was written and released in part last week, but the Times did not release the full text until yesterday.

Saying "his (Emerson's) name was not raised by either myself or members of the (McCarran) subcommittee," Colegrove added, "I have nothing but the highest regard for his (Emerson's) integrity and loyalty."

"All citizens should be protected against indiscriminant charges," Colegrove's letter continued, but "the rights of citizens who are called to testify under oath before legislative committees should (also) be protected from misrepresentation by the press.

Congress Has Right to Investigate

"When such committees ask questions regarding colleagues . . . . any conscientious witness will find the public hearing to be a personal ordeal which he must suffer in the interests of good citizenship."

Explaining that the Congress has the right to investigate any grievance, condition or situation in the interests of legislating and supervising the government's executive branch, Colegrove wrote that "Good citizenship also means that citizens should assist legislative committees by frank and honest testimony. Indeed they cannot legally do other than that when called to testify under oath."