Early this Sunday, a Black student worker at the University of Kentucky was physically assaulted and accosted with racial slurs by a white student in a disturbing encounter that has since gone viral online.
Kylah Spring was working the front desk of Boyd Hall when shortly after 3 a.m., an intoxicated Sophia Rosing, 22, stumbled in. When Spring attempted to check on her, Rosing refused help and instead attempted to strike Spring, while repeatedly called her the n-word.
\u201c22-yo University of Kentucky student Sophia Rosing has been arrested for attacking and repeatedly calling a student worker racial slurs. Rosing\u2019s racist attacks are vile! She needs to be charged with a HATE CRIME in addition to the several charges she\u2019s facing!\u201d— Ben Crump (@Ben Crump) 1667833951
Additional footage reveals Spring and a second student attempting to seat Rosing, who then tried to push a shopping cart at them. Spring shared that Rosing also bit her arm and kicked her in the stomach, as she explained in a TikTok video.
@ky.janalise Finally a story time #justiceforkylahspring #universityofkentucky #blm #college #assault #racism #enoughisenough @Auntkaren0
“The girl starts saying things like ‘Do my chores,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re black,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re ugly,’ and at this point she’s like singing the n-word," Spring said.
Even when police arrived and cuffed Rosing, she continued to repeat the slur, singing the n-word several times.
The University of Kentucky has since condemned the incident via a statement in the hours following Spring's assault.
"Early this morning, a disturbing incident was captured on video in a residence hall. The video is deeply offensive, and we take it very seriously," they said in a Twitter thread. "An arrest has been made. We are conducting an immediate review and have reached out to the student victim to offer support. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we will not tolerate behavior that threatens it."
\u201cEarly this morning, a disturbing incident was captured on video in a residence hall. The video is deeply offensive, and we take it very seriously.\u201d— University of Kentucky (@University of Kentucky) 1667747362
They also wrote that Spring handled the situation with "professionalism, restraint and discretion."
Rosing now faces criminal charges of of intoxication in a public place, third-degree assault on a police officer, fourth-degree assault, and second-degree disorderly conduct. She has since lost her position as a student ambassador at retail brand Dillards, but UK has not yet confirmed if she has been expelled.
Activists online are calling for not just Rosing to be see consequences, but the friends supporting her as well.
\u201cnot only do we have to hold sophia rosing accountable, but also her friends posting that she did nothing wrong. her friends say the n word too which isn\u2019t shocking.\u201d— slayyyy (@slayyyy) 1667811709
In Spring's TikTok, she continued to say that more needs to be done by universities to protect students of color from racism.
“The problem here is that this happens way too much on college campuses for things to not be done and we get these emails and everything about how [the university doesn’t] tolerate it, but it’s still happening,” Spring said. “I feel like at this point, the attention needs to be shifted from the offenders to the offended.”
