HARRISBURG — Black students have compiled a one-inch thick binder of documents showing how racism crops up repeatedly at Penn State.

The file includes 250 detailed descriptions of racist experiences people reported to the Penn State Black Caucus.

Students gave copies of the report to state lawmakers this week and told them about the uncomfortable climate they encounter at the university.

The students were by far the largest organized group to visit the House Appropriations Committee hearing yesterday and Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Monday.

The black leadership in the legislature responded by questioning Penn State President Graham Spanier about race during the hearings and inviting him to a meeting about race later this year.

"What type of initiatives are you bringing onboard . . . to ensure that our children are safe on your campus?" asked Rep. John Myers, D-Philadelphia. "When they get there, they are thrown into a nest of racism, sexism and classism."

Spanier repeatedly said he shares the same concerns and said he is committed to fighting racism.

Although minority enrollment has increased by 70 percent since 1990, Spanier said the university still needs to work harder to improve the campus climate.

Black Caucus President LaKeisha Wolf said the lawmakers responded positively to the students.

"I think they see the issue as urgent, just as we do," Wolf said.

Committee leadership in the Senate Monday encouraged Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, to enter the students' report into the record and share it with other legislators.

There are stories of racism throughout the students' report, which they distributed in bright red binders.

For example, students reported several incidents of discrimination at downtown stores and restaurants.

Some described insensitive remarks professors made in classrooms about various minority groups.

One black student said she was walking in a campus parking lot when two white men in a pickup truck tried to scare her by speeding up and nearly hitting her.

Another student wrote about being shut out of a party by fraternity members who used a racial slur.

The report also includes newspaper clippings dating back to the 1980s about racial problems at Penn State.

Members of the Penn State Black Caucus and the Penn State Coalition of Students have organized several events to address racism since October, when students received racist death threats by mail.

In December, the students presented a list of demands to faculty leadership and the administration.

They asked for several changes, including expanding the department of African and African-American Studies, increasing the amount of philanthropy directed toward minority issues and requiring all students to take a racism class.