Professor's response to student's absence: Bring the baby

Brittany Crocker | Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel

Show Caption Hide Caption Professor's response to student absence goes viral A professor's response to her absent student has swept twitter. Hear the student, Morgan King, talk about the pressures of going to school, working and raising her 3 month old daughter.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A University of Tennessee student got a heart-warming surprise when she emailed her professor about missing class last week.

Morgan King, who studies therapeutic recreation, emailed her professor, Sally Hunter, on June 15 to tell her she had had to miss class the day before because she couldn't find child care for her daughter, Korbyn.

Hunter responded by inviting her daughter to class.

"In the future, if you are having trouble finding someone to watch Korbyn, feel free to just BRING HER with you to class," Hunter wrote in the email. "I would be absolutely delighted to hold her while I teach, so that you can still pay attention to the class and take notes."

King wrote on her Twitter that she was crying with gratitude for her professor's understanding.

Told my professor I missed class yesterday bc I couldn't find childcare & this was her response. I'm literally crying. So blessed/thankful😩😭 pic.twitter.com/3QaThJRXdo — Morgan King (@morgantking) June 16, 2017

The tweet quickly went viral. It has been shared nearly 5,000 times. Even University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport retweeted King's post.

"Morgan, thanks for showing us challenges college students face. Prof Hunter, thanks for being part of the solution," Davenport wrote.

It's people like this that encourage young single mothers to go back to school and be successful and it needs to be recognized — Sydd 🍷 (@_SydTheKid2) June 16, 2017

Morgan, thanks for showing us challenges college students face. Prof Hunter, thanks for being part of the solution. https://t.co/YRkR90ovji — Beverly Davenport (@ChancellorDav) June 21, 2017

King is a single mother who lost her own mom to breast cancer last year.

She said balancing school, work and motherhood by herself can be tough.

"It is so hard," King said. "But I am so determined to graduate and get my degree for Korbyn and I. It's not just about me anymore. I have to do this for us."