A University of Kentucky student who hurled racial slurs at a student worker has been fired from her internship and plans to withdraw from the school.
The news comes in the aftermath of a drunken episode in which 22-year-old Sophia Rosing was recorded using racial slurs against Kylah Spring, a Black student who was working an overnight shift at the Lexington campus on Sunday. Ms Rosing allegedly assaulted Ms Spring after being denied entry to Boyd Hall for failing to show her ID.
The brazen attack has since become viral, with students decrying Ms Rosing’s actions. As calls on University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto to expel her keep mounting, more details have emerged about Ms Rosing and her role in the university.
Ms Rosing’s attorney, Fred Peters, told NBC that Ms Rosing plans to withdraw from the school, adding that his client is deeply embarrassed and that she will be entering rehab, where she plans to participate in a “sensitivity programme to help her through this situation”.
“She is going to withdraw from the university today or tomorrow,” Mr Peters told the outlet on Tuesday. “She’s a very, very embarrassed and humiliated young lady.”
According to local news station WKYT, Ms Rosing is a business and marketing major at the university. A since-deleted LinkedIn page stated that she was double majoring in merchandising, apparel and textiles, and worked as a brand ambassador at the Dillards department store.
Dillard’s official Twitter account replied to questions about Ms Rosing’s ties with the company, saying that, “Dillards does not condone this behavior [and] her relationship with Dillard’s has been terminated immediately”. The company has yet to issue a formal statement.
CollegeFashionista, a community of students from different campuses who are passionate about fashion, also revealed that Ms Rosing had been removed as a member and her affiliation with the group’s programs had been terminated.
“We strive to ensure all of our members reflect our values, but in this case we failed,” a LinkedIn post read. “Sophia Rosing was removed from the College Fashionista community effective immediately... We will be conducting an immediate detailed review of our member management practices, including our vetting processes, internal training, and beyond.”
Meanwhile, Ms Rosing is facing charges of public intoxication, third-degree assault on a police officer, fourth-degree assault and second-degree disorderly conduct.
After the now-viral incident, Ms Rosing was booked into the Fayette County Jail. She posted a $10,000 bond and was released on Monday.
She has pleaded not guilty to her charges and as part of her bail requirements, she has been banned from the Boyd residence hall and from contacting Ms Spring.
Calls are mounting for Ms Rosing to face hate crime charges after video of the attack spread like wildfire on social media.
“Could you stop?” Ms Spring asks in the clip that she captioned, “what I had to deal with at work”. Ms Spring was working an overnight shift on campus, per NBC.
“Nope,” Ms Rosing responded after being asked to stop by the Black student. “You’re a n***** and you’re a b****,” said Ms Rosing, a racial slur that the arrest citation claims she would go on to use “200 times” over the course of the arrest.
“I do not get paid enough for this,” says the victim, as she attempts to fight off the 22-year-old’s attempts to strike her.
The senior at the Kentucky school reportedly told arresting officers as she was being taken to the Fayette County Detention Center shortly after the early morning call was placed that she has “lots of money” and gets “special treatment”, according to the arrest citation, Fox 19 reported.
After attempting to get the intoxicated student to sit in a chair, the arrest citation notes that she then kicked the arresting officer and “bit their hand”.
On Monday, Ms Rosing pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought against her as she appeared via video link to her first court appearance from the Fayette County Detention Center, WKYT reported.
Ms Rosing’s parents, Jill and Don Rosing, attended their daughter’s hearing and by Monday evening, the bail for the 22-year-old northern Kentucky native had been posted as she was seen leaving the detention centre, the Daily Mail reported.
The University of Kentucky has responded to the incident by stating that they are in the midst of carrying out a review as they reach out to potential victims impacted by the altercation, Mr Capilouto said in a statement.
“To be clear: we condemn this behaviour 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,” he said.
In reviewing the footage of the video that appears to show the assault, Mr Capilouto defended the victim, noting that she acted “with professionalism, restraint and discretion” while he condemned the actions of the attacker.
“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,” the university’s president said.
