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Sophia Rosing, a student at the University of Kentucky, is being charged with physical and verbal assault of another student working as a desk clerk.
Social media has been flooded with video showing Sophia Rosing hitting and using racial slurs at a Black woman who was working at the residence hall’s front desk.
The video was shared on social media by the victim, Kylah Spring, a University of Kentucky freshman and student employee who was working at the front desk of the Boyd Hall dorm building when the incident occurred.
The video was removed by Instagram and TikTok for violating the platform’s rules, according to Spring.
But it was re-uploaded on YouTube by the Kentucky Kernel.
In response to the incident, the university released a statement.
Read the statement below
Early this morning, an incident involving violence against our students, racial slurs and offensive language occurred in one of our residence halls. One of the victims was a student employee who was working an overnight shift at the front desk.
From my view of a video of the incident, the student worker acted with professionalism, restraint and discretion.
UK Police arrested the perpetrator, who faces criminal charges, and the investigation is ongoing. Our Office of Student Conduct also is conducting an immediate review, and our Student Success teams are reaching out to the student victims who were subject to this behavior to offer support.
To be clear: we condemn this behavior and will not tolerate it under any circumstance. The safety and well-being of our community has been — and will continue to be — our top priority.
As we know more details about what happened, we will share more information.
On Friday, I shared with the campus the responsibilities we have to each other as a community — to protect the free expression of ideas and opinions and to respect each other — everyone on this campus — as we strive to create a community of belonging.
The video images I have seen do not honor our responsibilities to each other. They reflect violence, which is never acceptable, and a denial of the humanity of members of our community. They do not reflect civil discourse. They are deeply antithetical to what we are and what we always want to be as a community.
We will fully investigate what happened last night, but we also must learn from this moment and do better as a community.
There is no more important responsibility we have — or commitment we must make — than to treat each person — each person — on this campus as people who have equal intrinsic worth and value.
Let us take this moment, painful and ugly though it is, to remind ourselves of the work we must remain committed to as a community where everyone is welcome and feels that they belong.
Again, we will keep you informed as we know more.
Charge against Sophia Rosing
Currently, Sophia Rosing has been charged with assault, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and assault of a police officer.
Who is Sophia Rosing?
Rosing is a senior at the University of Kentucky set to graduate with the class of 2023.
In 2019, Rosing graduated from Beechwood High School.
Rosing is from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, a city of about 8,200 in Kenton County.
Her LinkedIn profile states that she is a double major studying marketing and merchandising, apparel and textiles.
Her affiliation with College Fashionista, a group of college-age fashion and beauty influencers, ended after the viral video was released.
