A team of black state legislators and their assistants spent yesterday in a whirlwind of meetings with Penn State students, faculty and administrators, part of a fact-finding mission about campus racism.

The Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus had two open forums and three private meetings yesterday at the HUB-Robeson Center.

The lawmakers wrapped up their day with a pledge from Penn State President Graham Spanier to respond to their specific requests.

Rep. LeAnna Washington, D-Philadelphia, would not elaborate on the requests to Spanier, but said, "There is a partnership between us and the university, and there always will be."

Spanier politely declined to comment after the meeting.

Throughout the day, minority students, faculty and staff told the lawmakers about racism at the university and what they perceive is a sluggish response from Penn State's leadership.

"Our leadership does not have a shared and inclusive understanding," said Lakeisha Wolf (senior-journalism), president of the Penn State Black Caucus.

Legislators gave the students credit for bringing the issue to their attention in an articulate way.

"We are very proud of you," said Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia. "It gives us more hope with respect to our young people, who are going to take over when we move on."

During the open forum with students, Hughes hinted that legislators could put financial penalties on Penn State if the university fails to live up to its obligations to all students. Hughes sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

There were several new developments in what has already been a rough academic year for race relations at Penn State:

Sharleen Morris, vice president of the Penn State Black Caucus, said a student contacted the caucus last week to report a threatening, racist e-mail. The student is too frightened to come forward publicly, Morris said.

Someone posted fliers in the Willard Building yesterday listing conservative activist David Horowitz's "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea — and Racist, Too." The list was part of an advertisement that ran in campus newspapers around the country. The advertisement did not run in The Daily Collegian.

Taking questions from two white newspaper reporters, Vice Provost for Educational Equity Terrell Jones, who is black, declined to answer and said, "I don't think most white people are particularly good at dealing with race issues."

Jones was the subject of criticism from several sides yesterday, as black student leaders said they were doing work that should be his job.

In one exchange, Rep. Washington grilled Jones on his role in making sure Penn State's colleges fulfill their multicultural obligations.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting we did everything right or everything perfect," Jones said.

"We know that," Washington said.

"And neither do you all," Jones said.

"We're not here for us, we're here for you," Washington shot back.

James Stewart, who used to hold Jones' position and is now a professor, came to Jones' defense.

"Education Equity really has been frozen out of the process of reviewing these proposals," Stewart said. "It has the name, but it doesn't have the power or responsibility to be what it likes to be."

Don Edmond (senior-history) also supported Spanier and Jones, saying they came to his aid after he received a racist threat by mail in October.

"My concerns aren't really addressed by this core group of students here," said Edmond, referring to the Black Caucus leadership.

Later in the afternoon, Christine Ahmed-Saidi, an assistant professor in the African and African American Studies Department who recently lost her contract, told the legislators she has seen efforts to undercut her department.

"It's always subtle," Ahmed-Saidi said. "It's not like they come out and say it, they just find ways to cut out your money."

She and students said the department has lost faculty members and cannot offer enough classes to meet the students' demands.

Joseph Selden, coordinator of minority programs for the College of Communications, told the legislators he hopes they take action on the information they gather.

"I hope this is not grandstanding," Selden said. "Remember that this is our home. Leave it with something we can live with and work on. . . . Please leave us with something more than the rhetoric and the publicity that this is going to get."

In his interview with reporters, Jones said he was still upset by an October 2000 Collegian article in which a student was quoted making a racist remark against him. Jones was informed about the quote before it ran in the paper and declined an invitation to respond to it.

Jones told two newspaper reporters that most white people are not good at dealing with racism. Turning to the Collegian reporter, he said the reporter was untrustworthy.

"Please put that in your paper. I said, 'I don't trust you,' " Jones said. He turned away and said nothing more.

Black Caucus supporter Alain Vaval (senior-premedicine) overheard the conversation and smiled.

"He's an administrator who's about to lose his job," Vaval said.