The Rev. Dennis Dease initially said Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, could not appear on campus because of statements he made in 2002 about Israel. Tutu, in the April 29, 2002, edition of The Guardian, made apparent connections to the influence of the Israeli lobby in the United States and Adolf Hitler.

In a letter to the university community, Dease called his previous position a mistake, the Star Tribune reported.

The Minneapolis newspaper said St. Thomas had never actually invited Tutu to speak but had said he could not appear on campus after he was invited to be a guest at PeaceJam. St. Thomas has been the location for the event in the past four years.

Dease got little support for the ban.

"The Jewish community can survive a speech by Archbishop Tutu. We've endured worse," said Mordecai Specktor, editor for American Jewish World, a weekly Jewish newspaper in Minnesota.