Former UK student, Beechwood grad Sophia Rosing pleads guilty to racist assault against fellow student

Staff report

A former University of Kentucky student and Beechwood High School graduate has pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree assault related to a racist attack against a Black student in a campus dormitory in 2022.

Sophia Rosing, 23, appeared in Fayette District Court this week in Lexington. She pleaded guilty to the assault charges, as well as one count of disorderly conduct and another count of public intoxication.

Rosing is facing up to 12 months in jail, 100 hours of community service, and a $25 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 17.

The charges were related to an incident in November, 2022, in which she physically assaulted and hurled racial slurs at Kylah Spring, a Black student working the front desk at Boyd Hall, a UK dormitory. The incident was recorded on video and went viral on social media. It shows Rosing hitting Spring multiple times and kicking her in the stomach.

In just 10 minutes Rosing used the N-word over 200 times. She then resisted arrest and bit a police officer who was sent to the scene, according to the arrest report.

The following night, Rosing posted a $10,000 bond and was released from detention. She was indicted by a grand jury in February 2023 and entered a not-guilty plea.

The university banned her from its campus.

Her attorney told news outlets that “she wrote a nice letter of apology.” But the victim responded that she didn’t believe the apology was sincere, according to reports.

The Northern Kentucky Tribune reported at the time that Rosing was a senior marketing major and that she was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said in a letter at the time to the campus community that Rosing, a senior from Ft. Mitchell, was dismissed from the school and would not be allowed to return.

Other points of his letter stated:

• Within hours of learning about this incident, she was suspended on an interim basis, which banned her from campus during the investigation.

• I have also determined that she will not be eligible to re-enroll as a student.

• She is permanently banned from the campus.

Capilouto added: “As a community working wholeheartedly to prevent racist violence, we also must be committed to holding people accountable for their actions. The processes we have in place are essential. . .I want to emphasize that this behavior was disgusting and devastating to our community. We stand by our students who were targeted by this unacceptable hostility and violence.”

Hundreds of students gathered on campus in a rally to support Kylah Spring, the freshman student who was abused by Rosing.

See one of the NKyTribune’s earlier stories about Sophia Rosing here.

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