Despite criticism from Penn State President Graham Spanier, state official Stephen Glassman said yesterday he continues to believe a state review of discrimination complaints against Penn State is justified.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (HRC) began a review of complaints against Penn State Monday. Also on Monday, Glassman, HRC chairman, told the Centre Daily Times that HRC would be investigating the possibility of "a cultural or systemic problem."

"I'm not shying away from this," Glassman said. "I'm not backing away from my statements."

Spanier wrote a letter to Glassman Tuesday, saying the chairman's comments were unsupported by the data. Spanier wrote that only 56 of about 200,000 complaints to the commission since 2001 involve Penn State. The HRC did not find probable cause in any of the 56 complaints and three resulted in a resolution between Penn State and the employee, he wrote.

Glassman said in a phone interview last night that Spanier's figures might not be accurate. He said the HRC would not know the exact number until it had completed its review in March.

"It could be larger, it could be smaller," he said. "There's a lot of paperwork in storage."

In a response yesterday to Spanier's letter, Glassman wrote that the lack of probable cause in complaints did not necessarily mean cases were without merit.

"It simply means that there was not enough evidence to credit the allegation with a finding of 'probable cause'," Glassman wrote.

Other complaints did not result in cases because members of minority groups chose not to pursue them, he wrote.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said Penn State's office of affirmative action obtained the number of complaints from "HRC data."

Glassman said one reason for the review was complaints that had been raised at HRC public meetings held in State College in the past several years.

"It is painful for all of us to hear the personal stories of fear and harassment, allegations of bias and inequity," Glassman wrote in his letter.

Glassman wrote that he applauded Penn State's efforts to combat discrimination. He said he welcomed the opportunity to meet with Spanier and other administrators to discuss "the variety of complaints we have received over the years from employees and students at Penn State related to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, national origin, and sexual orientation."

Because of confidentiality concerns, he could not comment on particular cases, Glassman wrote.

Glassman said he did not intend to "attack" Penn State.

"Our only interest here is in eradicating discrimination in the commonwealth," he said.

Spanier wrote in an e-mail to The Daily Collegian that he was "heartened" to receive the letter and looked forward to continuing to work with the commission.

Mahon, while conceding that "things aren't always perfect," said the number of complaints was very small relative to the number of Penn State employees.

"The university's values are really clear," he said.