Obviously being called a racist in today's society, especially among the highly-educated Penn State community, is considered offensive -- which was expressed by Brittany Moore ("Racism not prevalent among PSU students," Sept. 29).

I think that after looking past his sarcasm, Thomas Mei's column appropriately illustrates some problems challenging the condition of diversity at Penn State. Bringing students with different cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds together is an important first step. However, the next and most difficult step is to integrate, accept, and learn from others having a different perspective.

I agree with Mei that a good place to start is to acknowledge that it is not always immediately comfortable to jump head-first into the cultural-soup provided by Penn State. The uncomfortable feeling that might be incorrectly defined as racism by Mei is perpetuated by stereotypes and race specific descriptors. Mei mentions that once the stereotypes are set aside, strong friendships can be had, not because you found a great race, but because you found a great person.

Truly, I can not think of a more positive notion and do not feel as if Mei owes his readers an apology.