Three months after their movements made national headlines, the Penn State Villagers are ready to step up to the microphone and into the spotlight again.

Last week, talk of a mid-September rally crystallized, as the racially diverse group launched a Web site advertising a weekend conference of workshops, speeches, entertainment and fellowship.

Penn State Black Caucus members successfully pushed for changes to promote diversity and kindled the nine-day sit-in at the HUB-Robeson Center, after taking control of a school-sponsored anti-hate march on April 24. Almost a hundred students participated in the sit-in, dubbing their group The Village.

This year, the rally will be largely on Black Caucus' own terms from the start -- with a growing bill of well-known speakers, a broader focus and the backing of the Village.

"In scope, it's grand," said Penn State Black Caucus President Hasan Amenra. "We're bringing in all different issues for people who are discriminated against or who are victims of social injustice."

Organizers are courting nationally recognized poets, professors and activists to the event, slated for Sept. 14 to 16. They are also hoping to attract students from other universities to attend.

But as most of the focus has shifted to awareness and activism, the faceless criminal acts that in part triggered the spring protests remain under investigation.

Authorities say they have no new leads in tracking down who sent death threats and hate letters to members of the Penn State community in several incidents since fall 1999.

"These are difficult investigations without some suspects because of the ability of someone to send something anonymously through the U.S. Postal Service," said Thomas Harmon, director of Penn State Police Services. Some students also received racist e-mail messages, which were later traced to a computer lab at Temple University. The FBI is still looking into the cases.

"I don't think a day goes by where administrators are not discussing some aspect of the cases and trying to stay in touch with the investigators about any leads or progress they may have to report," said Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon.

The university and the state have posted $27,000 in reward money for tips that lead to the arrest of whoever was behind the death threats, particularly the ones directed towards Lakeisha Wolf in October 2000 and April 2001. Wolf was Black Caucus president at the time.

In May, the Penn State Alumni Association upped its reward to $25,000 in privately donated funds. A month later, Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers offered the remaining amount through its anonymous tip hotline.

But echoing a call heard often from black student leaders during the past year, Amenra said, "They can always do more. We always believed that they can do more."

The racist letters and e-mail messages were just the tip of the iceberg for many minority students, some of whom helped to compile a report of 250 anecdotes of perceived discrimination at Penn State.

Black Caucus members delivered the report to state lawmakers in late February and asked for their help. Rep. Leanna Washington, D-Philadelphia, and other members of the state Legislative Black Caucus met with students and agreed to aid their cause by pressuring the Penn State administration for change.

After the nine-day demonstration in April and May, Washington proposed a Commission to Promote Diversity, aimed at bringing lawmakers together with representatives from Penn State and the State College Borough. If approved when the General Assembly reconvenes, the nine-member committee would work to make sure administrators follow through on their diversity initiatives.

"Nobody feels that just because the initial heat is off that the fire couldn't burn again," said Jennifer Berry, a spokeswoman for Washington. "We're working to . . . ensure that there is a noticeable difference when students return in the fall."

Penn State President Graham Spanier came to an agreement with black student leaders on May 2 and signed the revised "Plan To Enhance Diversity."

The plan calls for a new research institute, more faculty in the African and African-American Studies Department, scholarships for students who double major in that field and education, a stronger academic diversity requirement and more authority for the vice provost for educational equity.

This month, the university tapped two tenure-track professors in African and African-American studies, Roy Austin and Cary Fraser, to serve as interim directors of the Africana Studies Research Center.

Administrators are also boasting a 7.5 percent increase in paid minority acceptance for the next freshman class. That translates into about 970 first-year minority students scheduled to arrive at University Park this summer and fall.

Minorities make up about 11 percent of the student body university-wide in a state that is about 85 percent white.

After the spring semester, many members of the tightly knit group who camped out in the HUB decided to maintain their bonds and form a new student group by the name they had popularized.

"The Village is in full effect," Amenra said, adding that the protester coalition turned out to be more than "just a flash in the pan" as some people had expected.

Black Caucus and the Village are now co-sponsoring what's being touted as a national rally scheduled for a few weeks into the fall semester.

Both Jeff Johnson, national college and youth director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Ramona Africa, a member of the former Philadelphia radical group MOVE, are already lined up to speak at the Saturday afternoon rally on Sept. 15, Amenra said.

Organizers are asking for out-of-town conference attendees to register for a small fee on their Web site (www.geocities.com/psurally). They're also offering free lodging for anyone who needs it and asking for donations, either monetary or in-kind.