Students planning on using the West Study Lounge at Waring Commons on Tuesday night may have had a confused reaction upon walking into the room, which was packed with 105 students.

In place of the usual couches and study tables, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., re-arranged the furniture into a semi-circular fashion to host a panel titled "Being Black at Penn State."

The event was moderated by professors Charles Lumpkins and Tony Keith and gave students the opportunity to ask questions to each other and elaborate on them.

Sabrina Campbell, who chaired the event, said this is the first year the sorority has done a panel like this.

"We're hoping this event opens the eyes of students who are not familiar with the subject and allows for people to let their feelings out," Campbell (senior-civil and environmental engineering) said. "We realize that at times there could be a divide between black and white or any other cultures here at Penn State, so we felt that holding this forum would allow students to express themselves."

Keith began the forum by asking students to give their own definitions of the words racism and discrimination. Keith stressed that defining these words was the first step in being able to identify when these actions take place.

"Knowing what these words mean and being able to define them will only help us understand why people use them and act upon them," Keith said.

A variety of topics were brought up throughout the night, ranging from the lack of black student unity some students felt was absent to the role stereotypes played in some students' lives.

When Keith asked the students why stereotypes are still present today, the consensus came down to the way blacks are portrayed in the media.

Keith described the ways students have to be labeled under a "bubble box" when doing standardized tests in which they have to label their race.

Vita McHale (junior-broadcast journalism) said one of the issues she had was being labeled as white, when she's Italian.

"My family just came from Italy, it sucks that we have to be categorized as one race because that's not really who we are," she said.

In the end, Lumpkins said it was important to honor the leaders in black history and follow their example in helping eliminate racism.

"[Racism] may not end today or in our lifetime," Lumpkins said, "but it's the efforts we put it in each day that little by little will guide us on our path to get there."