Ralph R. Papitto spoke this morning with John DePetro on WPRO 630 AM, about a story that ran Saturday in The Providence Journal saying that the longtime chairman of the board of trustees at Roger Williams University has stepped down.

But a former trustee says Papitto, a board member for about 40 years and chairman for the last 18, was forced to resign after he uttered a racial slur at a May 2 trustees meeting. The trustee, along with two other trustees who demanded Papitto’s resignation, has since been removed from the board.

Dr. Barbara H. Roberts says they were terminated — two without explanation — as retaliation for pushing for Papitto’s removal.

The Journal reported that at the May 2 meeting, Roberts said, Papitto and the trustees were discussing a sternly worded report criticizing the board’s lack of diversity — of its 16 members, 14 are white men. Papitto became agitated, Roberts said, and used the word “n-----” while talking about diversifying the board.

Papitto said to DePetro today that the word just slipped out – but it’s not something he has ever said before.

“I used the N word and it slipped out, and never even knew I said it … Listen, anybody that knows me in Rhode Island, and many people know me or know of me, ask them if I’m a racist in any way, which is what they’re alleging now. And then after I realized I said it, some trustees also mentioned it to me and so forth, I did the best thing I knew how to do. I called a board meeting immediately.”

Papitto said he called that meeting specifically to apologize.

“And I told you it slipped out," he continued to DePetro. "I didn’t say it like I meant it in that sense as they’ve interpreted it.”

Later in the interview, DePetro asked if it's a word Papitto uses "commonly."

"Never. Never. Never," Papitto replied. "I don’t think I’ve used it before in my life."

And even later, as the interview was wrapping up, the two discussed Papitto's use of the word again.

Papitto: “I happened to use the word. I said, it kind of slipped out. I don’t use that word.”

DePetro: “The N word?”

Papitto: “No, I don’t use the ... The first time I heard it was on television, in rap music or something. I don’t use that word. I don’t have occasion to do that and I wouldn’t anyway. I know better than that.”

DePetro: “Do you listen to a lot of rap music?”

Papitto: “No, I don’t. I don’t like it. I don’t like the language they use.”

DePetro: “All right. Well, Ralph, we appreciate the time.”

And the interview was over.

Today, the president of the Providence branch of the NAACP isn't buying Papitto's excuse for using the racial slur. Clifford R. Montiero, in an interview this morning with projo.com, said such words don’t slip out unless they’re part of someone’s vocabulary.

“If something’s in your vocabulary, you use it,” Montiero said. “It has to be in your vocabulary to use it. … It’s not the word that’s the problem. It’s the attitude of the word that’s the problem.”

Montiero said he needs to do more research before issuing a formal statement from the NAACP. He said Roger Williams University is a "great institution," and he's happy that Rhode Island has a law school.

He said the university must use this issue as a chance for growth.

“I think it’s a golden opportunity for growth,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an opportunity for failure. We can’t fail. We have to succeed.”

Papitto also took issue this morning on the radio with the criticisms leveled by the board member in The Journal story.

“This is the first time she’s ever mentioned anything like this,” he said.

Then this afternoon, Papitto went back on the air with Dan Yorke and reiterated much of what he had said earlier. He went on to blame dissident board members for the controversy.

Papitto refused last week to comment to The Journal on the epithet and maintained that he left the board of his own accord.

“This is a private institution and we consider board-meeting discussions confidential,” he said. “I stepped down because the time has come.”

-- with Journal archival reports