environment in which to learn. If the environment is not good, certain groups will be at a disadvantage.”

Lorenz is secretary/treasurer of the State System of Higher Education’s Board of Student Government Presidents (BSGP), which wants to see civility become a major campus issue.

The student leaders have met several times to discuss what they can do to help improve their campus climates. They met this week with the university presidents to enlist their support as well.

“The best thing that can come out of this is to know that our students are behind this effort to be more welcoming to different positions,” said Clarion University of Pennsylvania President Diane L. Reinhard, chair of the State System’s Commission of Presidents. “Students have to be part of the solution.”

While the student leaders did not cite any major concerns on their campuses, they said occasional incidents of intolerance do surface.

“There is such a mix on our campuses,” said David Day, president of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania’s Student Government Association and vice chair of BSGP. “Students from rural and urban areas, from different religions and ethnic groups.”

Pennsylvania has the fourth largest number of hate groups in the nation, Day said. The student leaders want to make certain such groups never gain a foothold at any of the state-owned universities.

Many of the universities already have programs in place to promote diversity, tolerance and civility. Some are so effective they are starting to be duplicated.

An example is the Building Bridges program at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, in which program volunteers help facilitate open discussions about issues of concern that may be raised by students or faculty. The volunteers often visit classrooms at the request of professors after a potential problem surfaces.

The program has been so successful it has been adopted by Clarion University and could soon become a fixture on other campuses as well.

“There are a lot of good programs already in place,” said Tammi B. Snyder, president of Clarion University’s Student Senate and BSGP’s parliamentarian. “We would like to see even more to get more students directly involved.”

The student leaders will encourage the sharing of programs that are currently in place, said BSGP Chair Zachary I. Cattell, president of West Chester University’s Student Government Association who also is a student member of the State System’s Board of Governors.

Other programs cited by the student leaders include “Civility Day,” an event held annually at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania; the “Art of Being” program, also at Shippensburg in which students who live in the residence halls choose different cultures and arrange programs around them; and a pledge of civility freshmen are asked to sign at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

It is important that such programs be embraced by university officials because of the constant turnover of the student populations, said Cattell.

“We hope we can instill in everyone how important this is so it will be a continual effort,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important we have the backing of the (university) presidents.”

The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate and more than 100 graduate degree programs. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield (Lock Haven), Kittanning and Punxsutawney (Indiana) and Oil City (Clarion) and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.