Tameka Boggs had a dream.

Boggs (senior–agricultural systems management) coordinated last night's Community Rally in Waring Commons because of an inspiration she described as a dream.

"I thought of the idea last year because I felt that the organizations here were not effectively meeting the needs of our community," said Boggs, a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority.

Zeta Phi Beta helped Boggs realize her dream of bringing greek and minority organizations together to revitalize their service aspects, which she said have taken a back seat to social ones.

Boggs brought what she felt were important community issues to the discussion to see how the different groups in attendance wanted to collaborate on solutions.

"The objective is to see that, yes, we all can work together," she said. "People will be more prone to work with other organizations at Penn State if we give it a start."

At the first-ever Community Rally, approximately 50 members of student groups and Penn State staff came together and shared viewpoints.

Boggs and a few members of her sorority began the meeting with a skit bringing up the problems of stereotypes, voter apathy, living above one's means and "weekend parents."

The group focused on stereotypes first, debating the definition of the word "thug" and how an individual's attire can give false impressions. Then they moved on to discuss the recent election and its effect on voter apathy.

"People need to branch out and look at the House of Representatives and senators as well," said Randi Congleton (junior-agricultural education), stressing how voters should be educated about more than just presidential candidates.

The political discussion then shifted into a debate about the judicial system. Some students cited statistics about disproportionate numbers of blacks in prisons, and the group discussed how society and boredom can lead youths to crime.

"I call it criminal for our communities to be in the situations that they're in," said Sharleen Morris (senior-management), Black Caucus vice president.

Morris and other students then shared a packet they assembled describing the history of racial problems at Penn State, including the hate mails sent last semester and personal testimonies of students who encountered racism on campus.

Morris expressed shock that the majority of incidents occurred in classes.

"I thought it would've been in the dorms," she said.

Nicole Lobaugh (sophomore-public relations), executive vice president of the Panhellenic Council, said she had not been exposed to such information before.

"If I had information like this, I would use it," she said.

The material in the packet should be used to convince apathetic students to help solve issues of hate and racism on campus, Lobaugh said.

"How can we get to those people that aren't here right now?" she asked.

As the meeting came to a close, suggestions were made for a council of minority and other organizations, and Boggs expressed interest in having another rally in the future. Members of diverse student groups shared ideas in small groups as the rally ended.

Many in attendance spoke on what individuals can do to make change.

"You can't touch everybody in the world," said Aleem Boatright (junior-nuclear engineering), "but you can touch the people that are around you."