Professor goes viral for holding student's baby during class: 'Teachers wear more than one hat'
A Pennsylvania professor went above the call of duty for a student who couldn't find a babysitter.
Last month, a sweet video showing Aqeel Dix, Ph.D, a health sciences professor at Lincoln University, a historically Black college near Oxford, Penn., holding a student's baby while giving a lecture went viral. Dix, who tells Yahoo Life that he has a big family, held the baby facing his mother, which seemed to relax him as he walked across the front of the classroom.
Though the video was taken in January 2020, right before many universities across the country shut down due to the pandemic, the video has resurfaced and resonated with countless people for the touching act of kindness.
"It Takes A Village....When my students need me, I'm there," Dix captioned his original post. "Student came to me and said Dr. Dix I'm going to miss class. My reply, was why...She then says I don't have a babysitter. I said yes you do, bring him to class I'll take care of him. I always say, we as educators are more than our title. I will never have a student miss class because they have no one to keep their kids. I will hold Dr.Dix daycare in the back of my class before I allow them to miss class. Days like this makes me fall in love with what I do."
People took to the comments to praise the professor for his care and have continued flooding the comments section since the video resurfaced.
"Beautiful and impactful! Much respect Had a professor who did something very similar for me when my daughter was a few months old and I was in grad school and I will forever respect and love her for it!" a commenter said.
"The epitome of a 'BEAUTIFUL SOUL'. I love teachers like you," someone wrote.
"Keep setting the bar high! We need more human beings like you," another person added.
"This is great brother. You have made a difference in someone life," a user continued.
Dix, who has been a professor at Lincoln since 2015, admits he had no idea that he was being filmed during this lecture. But helping out a student was a no brainer and far from out of the ordinary. He adds that he often provides special accommodations for student parents so that they can stay on top of their work.
"I go above and beyond for all of them," he says. I['ve] bought groceries, I picked [a student] up when he was stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire. That's just who I am. And so I understand the plight of single parents ... they tackle school and work. It's a lot to carry. It's hard for someone who does not have children to take care of to go to school and be successful."
He adds that it is "insane" that the video has gone as viral as it has, especially a year later and he was actually able to reunite with the baby from the video noting that he is "so big now. "He's walking [and] talking now."
Dix hopes that this video will bring awareness to the importance of teachers, especially during a global health crisis. "I don't do things for clout or for accolades," he notes. "This is who I am. But what I do hope people who saw this video understand is that teachers wear more than one hat. We have more than one role. And I want people to understand that teaching [is] one of the least respected professions, but we're the most crucial. If there's no teacher you'll have no doctor, no nurse, no lawyer."
