This foundation was established to help communities of color. Now its grants are on hold.

A local foundation that was created to support communities of color and indigenous Rhode Islanders has stopped awarding funds in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn affirmative action.

The Papitto Opportunity Connection, or POC, wrote to its current and prospective grantees July 24 to announce the pause in funding as it conducts a legal review. That review will determine whether the foundation changes its grant processes.

"Until we fully understand what POC can do, even as a private foundation, we have decided to put new grants on hold, including those grant requests received in June," the letter from POC Managing Trustee John Tarantino read. "Previous multi-year approved grants will be honored, as they were made in accordance with the law at that time. We recognize the impact of delay on those who have requested funding, and we will endeavor to move as quickly as possible to address this situation."

The organization was started in 2020 by Barbara Papitto, wife of the late Ralph Papitto, who in 2007 lost his position as chairman of the Roger Williams University Board of Trustees and had his name taken of the university's law school after he uttered a racial slur during a trustees meeting. Read to Succeed, a literacy and college scholarship program, was created by the couple to make amends, and the Papitto Opportunity Connection was started after Ralph Papitto's death to continue that mission and partner with communities of color.

In a call Tuesday, Tarantino told The Providence Journal that the pause applies to 150 to 175 people who applied for funding during the foundation's June application cycle. Coincidentally, the court's decision was handed down the same day the application window closed.

Foundations worried the ruling applies to more than just schools

Tarantino said he did not initially think the high court's decision would affect POC's funding choices, but the majority opinion of the justices made him think the decision was broader than schools.

"They say, for example, that if there is a contract and the contract is given in such a way that it favors a particular race or disfavors a particular race, that also is likely a violation of the law," Tarantino said. "I read that immediately and I started to get concerned."

While the opinion does reference contracts, it does so in regard to a case decided in 1989, City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Company. In that case, Richmond, Virginia had a rule that required recipients of city construction contracts to spend 30% of the contract money on minority businesses. The court decided that historical racism didn't justify giving those funds to minority businesses.

More: These diverse students got to Brown during affirmative action. They worry about its future

While the court's decision was focused on school admissions, Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that's not the only thing the court has questioned.

Lawyers say there is reason to worry. Here's why

"For some time, U.S. Supreme Court decisions have raised questions about the legality of various race-based programs designed to remediate the country's long history of discrimination against people of color, and this term's student admissions case is only the latest of those cases," Brown said in an email.

Brown speculated that there may be many entities – particularly those relying on federal funding – seeking to make their programs race-neutral.

"This may be their prudent response to avoid claims that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as the Supreme Court is interpreting this important anti-discrimination law, prohibits their current practices," Brown wrote. "I expect we will be seeing a lot of analysis in the coming months of all the possible ramifications of the court's decision in the Harvard case."

However, POC receives no federal funding, as it is a family foundation and all funding comes from founder Barbara Papitto. Still, there could be a risk.

As Roger Williams University Law School professor Michael Yelnosky explained, a particular section of federal law makes it – in Yelnosky's words – "unlawful for even private parties ... to discriminate on the basis of race in contracting."

"Certainly an organization that is known to give money to other organizations based on either the population that organization serves or the racial makeup of the leaders of that organization, they’re the ones who I think have the most legal exposure," Yelnosky said.

The issue? Those are the sorts of grants POC gives out, which is troubling to the foundation. POC offers funding to nonprofits that are doing work to lift up communities of color, or agencies helping businesses that are run by people of color. Those services may include financial-literacy education, job training or help growing businesses.

More: Will Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action change admissions in Rhode Island?

United Way, RI Foundation won't make changes to grant processes

Contacted for comment, neither the Rhode Island arm of United Way nor the Rhode Island Foundation said they planned on changing their grant-making practices. Excluding colleges and universities, those two organizations are among the largest philanthropic entities in the state.

"One of our core values at the foundation is to address the underlying causes of inequity and to eliminate disparities," said Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO David Cicilline. "There’s no leveling the playing field for people who have been historically marginalized unless that work remains a focus."

Similarly, United Way of Rhode Island President and CEO Cortney Nicolato had this to say:

"At United Way of Rhode Island, we remain committed to our mission and to the programs we so proudly provide our state – we are not changing our practices as the result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding affirmative action. Our mission is to unite our community and resources to build racial equity and opportunity for all Rhode Islanders."

POC says it will still give out funds, but may change process

POC is undertaking a legal review of the court's decision and aims to have it completed this month. Tarantino emphasized that the foundation will not stop giving out funds and will still give out the money it has available for grantees. (Tarantino did not say how much money that amounts to, but said POC's annual budget is between $16 million and $19 million. That's a flexible number that covers two rounds of grants, scholarships, sponsorships and multi-year grants. Multi-year grants already made will not be affected as they were offered before the court's decision.)

Tarantino said POC's may need to expand its criteria for grantees. Despite the foundation's decision to pause funding, Tarantino made clear where he stands on the court's decision.

"If I were to criticize the decision, I think it doesn’t take into account the real world," he said. "It just doesn’t. If we were starting fresh and if there was no history, I could understand exactly what they say. But guess what? We’re not."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Affirmative action ruling: Papitto Opportunity Connection pauses grants