Angered by the hate-filled messages sent out last week, hundreds of students packed the ground floor of the HUB-Robeson Center yesterday to stand against racism.
Penn State Black Caucus president LaKeisha Wolf, one of four people specifically targeted by the threatening mail, shared a podium with former Black Caucus president Joseph Dawkins. Wolf and Dawkins both answered questions from the crowd, which included many Black Caucus members.
"This is not just my problem," Wolf said. "This is not just a black problem. This is everybody's problem."
The event was billed as a press conference but attracted far more student supporters than it did reporters. Several university administrators were in the audience, but Penn State President Graham Spanier was absent.
Spanier and other university officials met with some students Friday to talk about the mailings and the overall racial problems on campus.
Four people — Wolf, Don Edmond (senior-history), a third student and a Penn State trustee — received unsigned racist threats in the mail last week.
Wolf received two letters; the envelope containing her second letter also included a note for Edmond.
Wolf and some other students visited Edmond at 1:30 a.m. Friday morning to tell him about the letter.
"It was a pretty rough going that night studying," Edmond said yesterday.
Edmond and Wolf both may have been singled out because of their recent letters and columns in The Daily Collegian.
Despite this, Edmond said it's a positive step when people speak up about racism.
"I think more students have to do what I did," he said. "I wrote a letter to the editor. I spoke out."
Wolf said the university has responded appropriately in addressing her safety. Both her letters contained physical threats laced with racial slurs and profanity.
The second letter to Wolf stated: "Thanks to your picture in the paper, now we know what you look like."
Wolf and Dawkins both said the letters aren't isolated incidents, but reflect a persistent climate of racism on campus.
"We find ourselves in an environment today — we're supposed to be in a progressive, educational, enlightened environment — where a young woman can have her life threatened, her life in mortal danger, for no other reason than the color of her skin," Dawkins said.
Students at the press conference said they hoped the emotions there would carry over to the rest of the campus.
"Right now, I'm outraged but at the same time I'm happy to see so many people together," said Mikaela Marmion (senior-letters, arts and sciences).
Like several other students at the event, Marmion said she would have preferred to see a more diverse mix of races in the crowd.
"I think that, first of all, white students need to recognize that this is a problem," Marmion said. "People need to recognize that people aren't making this stuff up and looking for things to complain about."
Other students wondered if the person responsible for sending the messages was lurking somewhere nearby.
"It's scary that you don't know who this person is," said Nicole Coleman (junior-management sciences and information systems).
Authorities are still trying to figure out who is responsible for the letters. There were no new developments yesterday, but the case remained under investigation, according to Penn State Police Services.
Meanwhile, the Black Caucus has scheduled a meeting next Thursday to address the problems. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Pollock Rec Room and will include a forum on racism at 8:30.
Students yesterday said it was important to continue a dialogue on racial issues.
"If anything racially motivated happens to you, come and tell Black Caucus. Come and tell administrators," Wolf told the crowd. "Don't keep it to yourself, because if you don't say anything, you're going to fall for it. These things will continue to happen unless we address them."
