Former University of Kentucky student pleads guilty after racist attack of Black student

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Sophia Rosing, the former University of Kentucky student who physically assaulted and shouted racial slurs at a Black student, has pleaded guilty to several charges, according to news reports.

On Monday, Aug. 12, Rosing, 23, pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree assault as well as one count of disorderly conduct and public intoxication in Fayette County Circuit Court, according to the WLEX-TV.

Sophia Rosing accused of racism

On Nov. 6, 2022, Rosing, who is White, was accused by police of physically assaulting and repeatedly shouting racial slurs at Kylah Spring, who is Black, at the campus residence hall where Spring worked, USA Today reported. The incident was caught on video and went viral on social media.

University of Kentucky police responded to the scene and said in a police report cited by the Herald-Leader that Rosings appeared “very intoxicated” and resisted arrest, adding that she kicked an officer and bit the officer’s hand. She was later permanently banned from campus.

“As a community working to prevent racist violence, we also must be committed to holding people accountable for their actions,” University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouoto said in a statement at the time, according to USA Today.

Mediation

The guilty plea arose out of a mediation in which Rosing’s attorney, Fred Peters, said, “A lot of things got said, apologies were made and we worked it out,” the Herald-Leader reported.

Rosing, he claimed, “has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology.”

Moving forward for Kylah Spring

Spring addressed the guilty plea on Monday, telling WLEX-TV that she forgives Rosing but states that the process hasn’t been easy.

“I forgive her more so for myself,” Spring told the outlet. “I was raised not to hold grudges, I was raised that we give people forgiveness because God forgave us. It’s a hard thing for me to come to terms with, but in the end, I want to live a life where people can say I was a kind and forgiving person.”

Spring has founded The Spirit & Grace Project to provide support to other Black women attending colleges and universities where White people are the majority, reports WLEX-TV.

Rosing faces up to a year in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced October 17th.