A group of students and lawmakers wants Roger Williams University to rename its law school, which is currently named for Ralph R. Papitto, who resigned this month as chairman of the university’s governing board in an uproar over his use of a racial slur, The Providence Journal reported this morning.

Mr. Papitto, who is 80 and a major donor to the Rhode Island university, stepped down in the midst of a shake-up on the university’s Board of Trustees. Two trustees who were ousted said Mr. Papitto had used the word “nigger” during a May board meeting, and one of them alleged that he had used such inappropriate language in the past.

About 180 of the law school’s 600 students have signed a petition demanding that Mr. Papitto’s name be dropped, with state lawmakers and a Roger Williams faculty member echoing their call. The newspaper reported that the law-school faculty will meet in the next few days to consider restoring the law school’s original name, which was the Roger Williams University School of Law. —Paul Fain