The University will initiate a toll-free hotline beginning Friday to answer questions regarding the racial climate here, said the assistant vice president of the Division of Campus Life.

The hotline, which will operate out of the Division of Campus Life, 135 Boucke, will focus on providing information to students' families, Pat Peterson she said.

More information about the hotline -- an effort on the University's part to open communication with students' parents -- will be provided at a news conference tomorrow morning.

In an earlier attempt to improve communications, University officials held meetings last week with parents of black University Park students concentrating discussion on the racial climate here. During meetings in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh last week, University officials presented information to interested parents and participated in group discussions, said Jerry Covert, dean of Undergraduate Programs.

In a Feb. 23 letter, University President Bryce Jordan and William Asbury, vice president of student services, invited parents of all black students at University Park campus to meet with administrators and discuss their concerns. The letter included information on racial incidents that have occurred in the community and detailed efforts the University and community have made to improve the situation.

The hotline was not created as a result of meetings with parents, but rather was discussed in previous meetings of the Campus Environment Team, a group concentrating on improving racial relations at the University, Peterson said.

Covert described last week's meetings as "very open." The officials presented information and then began a group discussion, he said.

Among suggestions offered by the parents were continued communication between the University and both the students and their parents, Covert said.

"We made a commitment to communicate again," said Peterson, who attended one of the meetings.

The administration is deciding how to keep the parents of all students informed, said Robert Dunham, vice president and vice provost.

The University is looking for the best method and therefore have not reached a final solution at this time, he said, But, he explained that the University is not hesitant to communicate with the parents.

The parents of all students will receive at least one letter regarding the racial climate here "in the near future," Dunham said.

About six parents and students attended the Wednesday night meeting in Harrisburg, which featured Asbury, Covert, and Carol Herrmann, vice president for administration.

Thursday evening, Asbury, James Stewart, director of the Black Studies Program, and Gary Kelsey, director of Undergraduate Admissions Division of Minority Admissions and Community Affairs, participated in a meeting in Philadelphia. Herrmann, Peterson, Covert and Lawrence Young, director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center, met with about 25 parents and students the same night in Pittsburgh.

Covert described the atmosphere at the Harrisburg and Pittsburgh meetings as one of "concern, commitment, interest and a desire to learn."

"I didn't see anger. I saw frustration," Covert said.

The meetings between the University and the parents proved beneficial to both parties, Peterson said.

"Personally, I seldom have the opportunity to speak with parents and hear their point of view," Covert said. "It is important for parents to hear we are concerned."

Young said last week's meetings concentrated on parents' concerns.

"The focus was the concern of parents for the safety and security for their sons and daughters and a concern for the general atmosphere of the University as it relates to some of the incidents that took place," Young said.

"I don't think there is anything that can be done to make a person absolutely safe in any environment," he said, but added that the officials explained the University's professed intolerance of racial discrimination and harassment.

The meetings were not to resolve or placate anything, Young said, but merely to open communication with the parents.