A dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has apologized to the Graduate Student Council for a College administrator's remark implying that graduate students do not fully recognize the importance of free speech.

The council's president, LaVaughn M. Henry, said that he received the apology in a phone call Thursday from Graduate School Administrative Dean John B. Fox Jr. '59, following a letter of protest sent to Fox and the College official in question, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III.

In the aftermath of protests on April 2 which prevented a Nicaraguan Contra from speaking in Boylston Hall, Epps had decided to exclude graduate students and those who were not affiliated with Harvard from attending a rescheduled appearance by the Contra last Wednesday.

Graduate students were allowed to attend the speech, but only after Epps's decision was overturned. In an interview published the morning of the speech, Epps had said that he had to be "absolutely certain" that the members of the audience "understood the importance of free speech." Epps said he "can't have that assurance with . . . graduate students" or anyone from outside the Harvard community.

After Epps's comments were made public, Henry and the student council's vice president wrote a letter decrying Epps's statement as a "ridiculous slur against Harvard graduate students." The comments, the letter continued, suggested that graduate students are "retarded" and implied that they are "second class citizens" in the University.

Henry said that in his conversation Thursday with Fox, the dean apologized for Epps's comments and described them as "off the cuff." Henry would not comment further on his conversation with Fox, but said: "We're aware that the administration does see the graduate student population as being able to respect the right of free speech."

Neither Fox nor Epps would comment on Fox's conversation with Henry. They also declined to elaborate on the overturning of Epps's initial decision to exclude graduate students from the speech, which attracted about 200 students to a Science Center room heavily guarded by Harvard police.

Henry, a first-year graduate student in Economics, called Epps's decision an administrative error. Excluding "one segment of the student population from the event served no real purpose in advancing an environment of free speech," Henry said.