Klaus Vedfelt
It’s hard juggling being a single mother and student, so this Lincoln University professor decided to lend one of his students a helping hand. Recently, a clip of Dr. Aqeel Dix bouncing a baby while teaching a class has resurfaced and went viral.
In the video, Dr. Dix is holding his student Imani Lamarr’s baby. That day, she had contacted Dix and said she couldn’t come to class because she didn’t have a baby sitter. He told her missing class wasn’t an option and that she could bring her infant son along to class.
“I never thought that it would come to that, and to have somebody who’s there for me…who really cares … it meant a lot,” Lamarr told ABC.
Lamarr had just returned to school after taking a semester off after her son was born prematurely.
Dix posted about it on Instagram, saying that he’d do whatever it takes for his students not to miss class.
“It Takes A Village….When my students need me, I’m there,” Dix captioned the original video in 2020. “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.”
To keep the baby boy calm, Dr. Dix kept him facing his mother while carrying him.
Dr. Dix told Yahoo that helping his students when they are in need is a regular thing for him.
“I go above and beyond for all of them,” he said. 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.”
Lamarr will be graduating in a few months.
