A group of black student leaders met with Executive Vice President Rodney Erickson for about 45 minutes yesterday to demand more communication from the university about race issues.

Erickson agreed to provide the students with several specific pieces of information they requested, including an update on the investigation of last year's threatening letters that targeted several black students.

Students said they were alarmed after a Penn State Police officer asked students in the Black Caucus office Friday to begin wearing gloves when opening mail. The officer, Robert Jeter, told the students the gloves are meant to preserve fingerprints on any threatening letters that might come into the office.

Several students met with Jeter yesterday morning. In a friendly conversation in the lobby of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center, Jeter said the gloves are simply a precaution that could help future investigations move faster.

"We don't think anything is going to happen," Jeter told the students. "It's not that we have information that Black Caucus or LaKeisha is targeted."

Black Caucus President LaKeisha Wolf received two racist death threats in October in a wave of hate mail that targeted several people.

Jeter said police have not identified a suspect in the threats, but the police asked the FBI to test several of the letters for fingerprints.

"We're not taking this lightly by any means," he told the students.

Sharleen Morris, Black Caucus vice president, said she didn't fault Jeter for his visit Friday, but blamed the university administration for failing to keep students informed.

"That's something the administration needs to be accountable for," Morris said.

After their meeting with Jeter, about eight students walked to Old Main, where they requested a meeting with President Graham Spanier.

Spanier was undergoing root canal surgery and was out of the office. Erickson left another meeting to listen to the students.

"We've been basically left in the dark the entire semester," Wolf said.

The students demanded that Erickson provide seven specific pieces of information by 3:30 p.m. Friday, Morris said after the meeting.

Their requests include a full assessment of the Penn State's progress in diversity, specific reports on the progress in each college and a list of the accomplishments during the past year by the Vice Provost for Educational Equity, Morris said.

Erickson said the discussion was productive, and he will get the information the students asked for.

"I will work with Vice Provost (Terrell) Jones and University Police Services and any other appropriate units on campus to provide that information in the next few days," Erickson said.

One of the students' chief complaints is that nobody seems to know exactly how many letters are part of the hate mail investigation.

In October, university officials said four people were targeted — three students and a university trustee.

In their conversation yesterday, Jeter and the students were able to recall the names of six students who have received threats, including four members of the Penn State football team.

Morris said the students want the materials from Erickson in time to read before they meet with the black legislative caucus on April 11.