When Childcare Fell Through
When Wayne Hayer, a senior at Morehouse College, couldn’t find a babysitter for his 5-month-old daughter Assata, he remembered something his mathematics professor, Nathan Alexander, once told him,
“If you ever need to, you can bring your daughter to class.”
Though Hayer never planned to take him up on that offer, circumstances left him with no other choice one Friday morning.
A Father’s Dilemma
Hayer’s wife, who usually stays home with their baby, needed to pick up Assata’s birth certificate that day. Not wanting his wife to handle public transportation alone with the infant, Hayer decided to bring his daughter with him to his kinesiology class.
Still, he admitted feeling anxious about the idea, especially at an all-male, historically Black college. While he’d heard of mothers bringing their children to class, this felt different. But with midterm exams approaching, missing class wasn’t an option.
A Classroom of Understanding
When Hayer walked into Professor Alexander’s classroom, baby strapped to his chest and book bag on his back, he braced himself for disapproval. Instead, his professor simply smiled.
“No problem,” Alexander said. “In fact, I’ll even hold her so you can take better notes.”
Hayer’s classmate, Nick Vaughn, shared the touching moment on Facebook, describing how Alexander held baby Assata for the entire lecture, even staying after class to answer questions, with the baby still comfortably resting against his chest.
A Viral Lesson in Compassion
Photos of the scene quickly went viral on Twitter and Facebook, warming hearts across the internet. Vaughn wrote:
“It was this encounter that truly showed me the power and impact HBCUs can have for the Black community, for this professor to understand that life happens and sometimes there are just no ways around it.”
Redefining What Support Looks Like
Professor Alexander later told The Washington Post that he was simply proud to support a dedicated student and father.
“There’s an idea of what a student is, and we don’t think about ways to support parents that are students,” he said. “That’s where I come in. Community matters. I want a world where Wayne doesn’t feel like he can’t prepare for his exam just because his childcare fell through.”
A Lesson Beyond the Classroom
For Hayer, Alexander’s act of kindness meant more than just academic support, it was a reminder that compassion and community are essential to education.
And for everyone who saw the story, it became a powerful example that sometimes, the most meaningful lessons aren’t written in textbooks, they’re shown through empathy, understanding, and simple human kindness.