Penn State Officials Respond to
Racist E-mails
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Even though the racist e-mails that were circulating through Penn State last month only reached a relatively small number of students, the entire Pennsylvania State University community may feel its impact, according to a report in the Daily Collegian, the campus newspaper.
To help deal with the situation, the university recently developed a Web site, located at www.psu.edu/ur/diversity efforts/, that includes updates on the e-mail investigation as well as links to news releases about hate e-mail distributed at other universities, says Bill Mahon, Penn State's director of public information.
The Web page includes statements from Penn State's president, Dr. Graham Spanier; Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity; and Black Caucus President Joseph Dawkins, Mahon says.
Jones says about 66 students received the original racist e-mail. However, copies of the e-mail spread rapidly because a few student groups forwarded the message via their list servers, Jones says.
"They made a mistake in that they didn't include a disclaimer at the top [of the e-mail]," Jones said.
The racist e-mail messages began appearing earlier this month. A person using the alias "The Patriot" signed the messages, which were traced to a computer lab at Temple University in Philadelphia. Another 48 minority students received a second e-mail about a week later.
Since the original message was sent, many things have surfaced from the ordeal, Jones says.
"It has become an issue for parents who want to ensure their daughter or son's safety, and for students who want to know who did it and find out the investigative techniques," he says.
Brandi Patton-Thompas, co-president of SMART, the Student Minority Advisement and Recruitment Team, says the constant media attention the messages have attracted has probably made people more aware of the specific issues concerning racism. On the other hand, she says the hateful messages will not fully affect people until they realize racism is a community issue.
Centre County CrimeStoppers is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the hate mail. To report any possible leads, call (800) 352-7463. Caller will remain anonymous.