A professor's actions went viral after he offered to babysit a student's daughter — during class — so the student could take notes.
What are the details?
Morehouse University visiting professor Nathan Alexander offered to allow a male student in one of his classes to bring his child to the class if he was unable to find a sitter, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
When the student arrived to class, daughter in tow, the professor ended up holding her while lecturing so that the student could take proper notes.
Photos of the professor and the child went viral on the internet, with many social media users praising the professor for the unconventional, but undoubtedly heartwarming, gesture of community.
During a phone interview with the outlet, Alexander said that he was simply doing his job as a teacher.
"I'm not an exception," he explained. "We have teachers who [assist students in similar ways] every day."
According to the paper, Alexander, 34, told the student several weeks ago to bring the baby to class if he wasn't able to make other arrangements for child care.
The student took Alexander up on his offer several weeks later, and brought the happy, pink-clad baby to class. During the class, Alexander noticed that the student was struggling to take notes, so Alexander offered to hold the child.
"Hey, I'll take her so you can take some good notes," Alexander recalled telling the student.
As he lectured with the baby strapped to his chest, Alexander said that the child eventually fell asleep. The professor said he joked with students that the lecture must have been especially boring.
What else?
Alexander said that he's done similar things in the past, and told the outlet that a student once brought a child as old as 8 or 9 years old to class.
According to the paper, "Alexander said such allowances, to him, are part of the mission of colleges such as Morehouse, the nation's lone college for African-American men — men finding ways to help other men." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the Atlanta college's most famous graduate.
The professor doesn't have children of his own, but said that he believes in the power of community.
"Teachers do this in their own way every day," he said. "This is what they do."
Student came to class today with his child due to no babysitter or anybody to watch her while he was in class. My… https://t.co/2brg4WuqVc— TheOriginal™ (@TheOriginal™) 1551457423.0
Director of homeless shelters says handouts make homelessness worse, and outraged activists want him fired