As a fellow member of the "White Caucus," I have to say I was incredibly bothered by the letter published Friday ("Student writes letter from 'White Caucus'").

In fact, I would go so far as to call it ignorant and bordering on racist.

The Black Caucus's eventual goal is for race to no longer be an issue, and yet this is not the current state of affairs.

To just sit back and not make any demands because "race should not be an issue" would be the equivalent of Al Gore wishing the polar ice caps wouldn't melt but doing nothing to educate people about it in order to change the destiny of the planet.

Race still is an issue, and to think otherwise is erroneous.

The rest of the nation makes a big deal when an African American does something remarkable -- Super Bowl coaches, anyone? -- because they still are struggling to be seen as the equals they are. One day, hopefully, this will not be an issue. But for now, it is.

Penn State is nowhere near without racism.

This is a campus where letters and columns have been printed in the Collegian basically proclaiming that, if you do something -- like have a racist Martin Luther King party -- make sure not to post it on Facebook. You might get caught.