There are SO MANY aspects of this story that are disgusting. The old man has donated millions to this school and he is being thrown under the bus for using the -N - word.The treatment he is getting is ridiculous. And of course, he apologizes and makes things worse.
[url]http://www.projo.com/news/content/rwu_follow_07-17-07_Q86D41 J.33a2e51.html[/url]
Papitto says racial slur 'just slipped out'
<H5 =vitstorydate>01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 17, 2007</H5>
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
Pressured by students and faculty, the Roger Williams University Board of Trustees is considering whether to remove Ralph R. Papitto's name from Rhode Island's only law school because he used a racial epithet during a May meeting of the trustees.
Meanwhile, Papitto, 80, took to talk radio yesterday to acknowledge that he used the slur while discussing the need to add more women and minorities to the board.
"It just slipped out," Papitto told WPRO-630 AM talk show host John DePetro. "I never even knew I said it."
A group of 75 law students signed a petition within two hours yesterday, demanding university officials immediately change the name of the Ralph R. Papitto School of Law. Their campaign was sparked by a report in The Journal Saturday that the former chairman of the board of trustees used the "n-word" during the board meeting and then worked behind the scenes for two months to remove three board members who criticized his conduct and demanded he resign. A university spokeswoman said some faculty members were also calling for Papitto's name to be removed from the law school.
"We want to immediately express our outrage and condemn the outrageous statement by former Chairman Papitto," said Matthew Jerzyk, a third-year law student who helped start the petition. "We have a collective desire to have his name taken off our school."
The trustees and university officials distanced themselves from the former chairman yesterday, and did not reject the possibility that Papitto, who served as a trustee for almost 40 years and as chairman for about 18 years, could be stripped of his "emeritus" status or that his name could be removed from the law school.
"The board will take any petition very, very seriously in determining whether Mr. Papitto's name will be removed," said Mike Doyle of the public relations firm RDW Group, hired late last week by the new board chairman, Richard L. Bready.
Papitto, founder of the Fortune 500 company Nortek, resigned July 9 and was publicly praised by the university for his years of service, and was granted honorary "emeritus" status on the board of trustees, the legal and fiduciary representative of the university. (Bready and Papitto have been business associates for many years; Bready took over as chairman of Nortek when Papitto stepped down in 1990.)
Law school dean David A. Logan omitted Papitto's name in an e-mail he sent out yesterday, addressed: To Members of the Roger Williams University School of Law Community. In it, he condemned racist speech.
"I am writing to assure you that such behavior has no place in the Roger Williams educational community," Logan wrote. "We are committed, in word and deed, to diversity and public service. Mr. Papitto's conduct was fundamentally inconsistent with our policy and practice."
Logan also said he would be discussing "these important matters with the School of Law Board of Directors and all of our constituencies to ensure we take the steps necessary to protect our educational community and its values."
Papitto has donated $2.8 million to the university over the years, less than $1 million of which flowed directly to the law school that bears his name, said Doyle of the RDW Group.
Last Friday, in an interview with The Journal, Papitto said that he had given "between $7 million and $8 million" to the university.
STUDENT LEADERS SAY they want the university to take swift action. They say they hope many more of the 600 law students will sign the petition seeking to change the law school's name before they formally present it to officials this afternoon.
"This just destroys your sense of pride in your school," said Majessire Smith, president of the multicultural law student association. "It's really important that the student body not tolerate this kind of outrage
Students of color make up about 12 percent of the law school, and its faculty is among the most diverse in its peer group, said university spokeswoman, Judi Johnson. University officials said they did not have exact numbers available.
Papitto's use of the "n-word" came to light last week when three trustees said they were wrongfully removed from the board after calling for Papitto to resign. The three are Dr. Barbara H. Roberts, Papitto's former cardiologist; Joseph A. Caramadre, a philanthropist and owner of Estate Planning Resources and Sally E. Lapides, owner of Residential Properties.
"As law students, we are incredibly proud of Dr. Roberts' courage in coming forward and doing the right thing," said Jerzyk, the petition organizer. "We certainly know that whistle-blowers face possible retaliation, and her actions show her tremendous character."
Appearing on two talk shows yesterday, Papitto tried to explain his use of the slur, saying he "never, never, never" used the word before.
"The first time I heard it was on television, in rap music or something," he said. "I don't use that word. I don't have occasion to do that and I wouldn't anyway. I know better than that."
In two interviews with The Journal last Thursday and Friday, Papitto declined to discuss what had happened at the Board of Trustees meeting, saying it was a private matter. He did not return a call from The Journal yesterday.
Cliff Monteiro, president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, said he hopes the three former trustees are reinstated, but said that push should come from student organizers. The Board of Trustees' spokesman, Doyle, said the board would not reinstate them.
Monteiro criticized Papitto's use of the word.
"We buried that word, we had a funeral for that word this summer at the NAACP conference, to show we're not just attacking it from white men, but from anyone who says it, including rappers," Monteiro said. "The 'n-word' is a symbol of an attitude  it's not just the word itself. It is degrading, it is insulting, and there is no excuse for using that terminology."
Meanwhile, philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein said he has told President Roy J. Nirschel that he will donate $1 million to start a diversity scholarship program, as a way to encourage more minority students to attend Roger Williams University. Feinstein said he will work out the details with university officials.
Nirschel issued an electronic statement to the entire campus community yesterday, highlighting the recent addition of about a dozen new trustees, many of whom are women, minorities and from foreign countries, in an effort to diversify the board.
"There is no place in the life of this University for anyone who uses inappropriate or derogatory language toward any individual or group," Nirschel wrote. "The standard is particularly high for those in leadership positions."
Eleven years ago, when the Board of Trustees voted to honor Papitto by naming the law school after him, several students voiced their disapproval of the plan, in part because Papitto was not a lawyer, in part because he had had a civil dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission when he ran Nortek, and in part, because he was still living.
"I don't think it's a good idea to have a law school named after a living person because they might do something wrong before they die," said Bill Felix, a law school student from Pittsburgh said in 1996. "They could kill their family the next day and that would be on my law degree."
[url]http://www.projo.com/news/content/rwu_follow_07-17-07_Q86D41 J.33a2e51.html[/url]
Papitto says racial slur 'just slipped out'
<H5 =vitstorydate>01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 17, 2007</H5>
By Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal Staff Writer
Pressured by students and faculty, the Roger Williams University Board of Trustees is considering whether to remove Ralph R. Papitto's name from Rhode Island's only law school because he used a racial epithet during a May meeting of the trustees.
Meanwhile, Papitto, 80, took to talk radio yesterday to acknowledge that he used the slur while discussing the need to add more women and minorities to the board.
"It just slipped out," Papitto told WPRO-630 AM talk show host John DePetro. "I never even knew I said it."
A group of 75 law students signed a petition within two hours yesterday, demanding university officials immediately change the name of the Ralph R. Papitto School of Law. Their campaign was sparked by a report in The Journal Saturday that the former chairman of the board of trustees used the "n-word" during the board meeting and then worked behind the scenes for two months to remove three board members who criticized his conduct and demanded he resign. A university spokeswoman said some faculty members were also calling for Papitto's name to be removed from the law school.
"We want to immediately express our outrage and condemn the outrageous statement by former Chairman Papitto," said Matthew Jerzyk, a third-year law student who helped start the petition. "We have a collective desire to have his name taken off our school."
The trustees and university officials distanced themselves from the former chairman yesterday, and did not reject the possibility that Papitto, who served as a trustee for almost 40 years and as chairman for about 18 years, could be stripped of his "emeritus" status or that his name could be removed from the law school.
"The board will take any petition very, very seriously in determining whether Mr. Papitto's name will be removed," said Mike Doyle of the public relations firm RDW Group, hired late last week by the new board chairman, Richard L. Bready.
Papitto, founder of the Fortune 500 company Nortek, resigned July 9 and was publicly praised by the university for his years of service, and was granted honorary "emeritus" status on the board of trustees, the legal and fiduciary representative of the university. (Bready and Papitto have been business associates for many years; Bready took over as chairman of Nortek when Papitto stepped down in 1990.)
Law school dean David A. Logan omitted Papitto's name in an e-mail he sent out yesterday, addressed: To Members of the Roger Williams University School of Law Community. In it, he condemned racist speech.
"I am writing to assure you that such behavior has no place in the Roger Williams educational community," Logan wrote. "We are committed, in word and deed, to diversity and public service. Mr. Papitto's conduct was fundamentally inconsistent with our policy and practice."
Logan also said he would be discussing "these important matters with the School of Law Board of Directors and all of our constituencies to ensure we take the steps necessary to protect our educational community and its values."
Papitto has donated $2.8 million to the university over the years, less than $1 million of which flowed directly to the law school that bears his name, said Doyle of the RDW Group.
Last Friday, in an interview with The Journal, Papitto said that he had given "between $7 million and $8 million" to the university.
STUDENT LEADERS SAY they want the university to take swift action. They say they hope many more of the 600 law students will sign the petition seeking to change the law school's name before they formally present it to officials this afternoon.
"This just destroys your sense of pride in your school," said Majessire Smith, president of the multicultural law student association. "It's really important that the student body not tolerate this kind of outrage
Students of color make up about 12 percent of the law school, and its faculty is among the most diverse in its peer group, said university spokeswoman, Judi Johnson. University officials said they did not have exact numbers available.
Papitto's use of the "n-word" came to light last week when three trustees said they were wrongfully removed from the board after calling for Papitto to resign. The three are Dr. Barbara H. Roberts, Papitto's former cardiologist; Joseph A. Caramadre, a philanthropist and owner of Estate Planning Resources and Sally E. Lapides, owner of Residential Properties.
"As law students, we are incredibly proud of Dr. Roberts' courage in coming forward and doing the right thing," said Jerzyk, the petition organizer. "We certainly know that whistle-blowers face possible retaliation, and her actions show her tremendous character."
Appearing on two talk shows yesterday, Papitto tried to explain his use of the slur, saying he "never, never, never" used the word before.
"The first time I heard it was on television, in rap music or something," he said. "I don't use that word. I don't have occasion to do that and I wouldn't anyway. I know better than that."
In two interviews with The Journal last Thursday and Friday, Papitto declined to discuss what had happened at the Board of Trustees meeting, saying it was a private matter. He did not return a call from The Journal yesterday.
Cliff Monteiro, president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, said he hopes the three former trustees are reinstated, but said that push should come from student organizers. The Board of Trustees' spokesman, Doyle, said the board would not reinstate them.
Monteiro criticized Papitto's use of the word.
"We buried that word, we had a funeral for that word this summer at the NAACP conference, to show we're not just attacking it from white men, but from anyone who says it, including rappers," Monteiro said. "The 'n-word' is a symbol of an attitude  it's not just the word itself. It is degrading, it is insulting, and there is no excuse for using that terminology."
Meanwhile, philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein said he has told President Roy J. Nirschel that he will donate $1 million to start a diversity scholarship program, as a way to encourage more minority students to attend Roger Williams University. Feinstein said he will work out the details with university officials.
Nirschel issued an electronic statement to the entire campus community yesterday, highlighting the recent addition of about a dozen new trustees, many of whom are women, minorities and from foreign countries, in an effort to diversify the board.
"There is no place in the life of this University for anyone who uses inappropriate or derogatory language toward any individual or group," Nirschel wrote. "The standard is particularly high for those in leadership positions."
Eleven years ago, when the Board of Trustees voted to honor Papitto by naming the law school after him, several students voiced their disapproval of the plan, in part because Papitto was not a lawyer, in part because he had had a civil dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission when he ran Nortek, and in part, because he was still living.
"I don't think it's a good idea to have a law school named after a living person because they might do something wrong before they die," said Bill Felix, a law school student from Pittsburgh said in 1996. "They could kill their family the next day and that would be on my law degree."
