Students of many races gathered last night for an honest and free-ranging chat about racism that capped off with a personal speech from Penn State President Graham Spanier.

In a hot, standing-room-only Pollock Rec Room, hundreds of students talked about racism in its many forms — as a deep-rooted social problem, heard in quick classroom remarks, felt in painful crimes and seen here in threatening letters that targeted the black community this month.

There was one clear point of agreement.

"Who's problem is racism?" asked Black Caucus President LaKeisha Wolf, who helped lead the discussion.

"Everyone's," answered a chorus of voices, as if on cue.

The discussion, scheduled as part of Unity Week, took on special significance after death threats were mailed to Wolf, two other black students and a Penn State trustee earlier this month.

Students shared stories of racism in State College. Some were obvious, such as racial slurs or thrown bricks. Others were subtler, in the form of insensitive remarks, made by both fellow students and instructors in classrooms.

One student said two of her friends dropped out of Penn State after they were victims of the racist e-mails that went to dozens of minority students last fall.

Another talked about how she quit her job because her manager treated her differently because she was black.

At least seven Penn State administrators, including Spanier, made up part of the crowd. They heard both criticisms and constructive suggestions from the students there.

"For solution purposes," said Aronissa McFadden, Class of 1999, "we need to start right from the leadership.

"What is being done in the faculty and the staff and the administration and the curriculum?"

Several people said the faculty should make diversity classes a more prominent part of the curriculum.

Other students put the blame less on the local culture and more on American society.

"You can't wait for Graham Spanier to do something," said Shanique Chester (junior-marketing and international business). "Don't wait for somebody else to stand up for your rights. They're yours!"

Vice Provost for Educational Equity Terrell Jones said he was glad the hate mailings prompted students to get together to talk about racism, and he said the problem reaches beyond this region.

"One student said the other day that racism is as American as apple pie," Jones said. "There's nothing they put in the water here in Centre County that makes people racist."

Ending the program, Spanier delivered an unscripted answer to those who have challenged his sincerity in addressing the problem.

"I know about racism. I've experienced it in my own ways. Twenty of my family were killed during World War II because of what was then defined as a racial problem," Spanier said. "I don't have much family. I grew up with that all of my life, experiencing a different kind of discrimination, but discrimination nevertheless.

"I've devoted my life to making sure I did everything I could to eradicate any racism that I come across. So I stand with you on this topic," he continued.

"Now for me it's a very awkward situation. Because I've had to come to realize in recent years that I represent the establishment. That as president of the university, as somebody said, I'm the authority figure now," he said.

Spanier concluded by telling students he stood with them and asked for their support in solving the problems of racism.

"I'm not the enemy here," he said. "We've all got to stand united. We can't do this in a 'we' and 'they' mode. It's all got to be 'we.' "