There have been many opinions surrounding the student-reported incidents of racism that have appeared daily in the Collegian. I have a few myself. Some reports appear to be loosely based on race (the nearly-getting-run-over-by-a-car one). Others occur off campus in non-university related establishments (the bread-and-grapes packing one that appeared in this week's paper). Although this latter event especially was nothing short of appalling and uncalled for on the part of the no-doubt ignorant woman and the equally ignorant/scared/apathetic bystanders who did nothing to stop it, there is little the university itself can be expected to do about it. It is a problem in the Centre County region itself.

However, there is one "category" of incidents that stands out to me as one that the university should be more than capable of eliminating or, at the very least, greatly reducing. I am speaking of the incidents that occur in the classroom. Some involve most likely well-meaning (but obviously uninformed on the issue of diversity) instructors who unknowingly insult students in the class by using politically incorrect phrases in their lectures and notes.

Others involve students in the classroom saying ridiculously close-minded and hurtful things, and the instructor doing nothing to keep discussions civil. Many companies now require their employees to attend "inclusion and diversity" training in order to enable them to deal with coworkers who are different from them in an appropriate, respectful manner. Many of these people are not intolerant bigots, just simply uniformed. The university could make great strides in improving the racial environment here by simply "informing" our instructors — require them to undergo similar diversity training before placing them in the classroom.