UTEP student praises professor for allowing him to bring baby to class

Recently, a Facebook post out of Arkansas State University went viral showing a physics professor holding a baby while teaching after one of his students had a daycare conflict.

A UTEP student says his professor did something similar for him. Scott Plavin was going to skip a semester to take care of his infant son. But instead, his professor stepped in to help. Plavin says his wife is a full time nursing student. He is a veteran who uses vocational rehabilitation. He says he needs to attend classes to maximize his benefits.

“I didn’t want to spend the extra money for daycare on my child when I could be the one with him and watch him,” Plavin said.

Plavin says he asked his professor Paulette Dulce-Rodriguez if he could bring his son to class.

“I without hesitation said of course,” Dulce-Rodriguez said. “I’m a baby person and I was actually kind of excited about it.”

So Plavin took his son to class every day for a semester.

“The one time when I felt he was being a little disruptive, she came from the center of the classroom to the back where I sat with him and picked him up and started moving around the classroom while she was teaching,” Plavin said. “It was awesome.”

“When the class started he wasn’t as heavy as he was the end of the semester,” Dulce-Rodriguez said. “He just became part of the class. It was just such a pleasure.”

Plavin says his professor’s gesture deserves some recognition.

“If I had to sit out this semester from school, I don’t know where we would be right now,” Plavin said.

“Life has all types of ups and downs,” Dulce-Rodriguez said. “Life is difficult, life is not nice and clean cut…so I care that every student has the opportunity to be successful in my classroom,” Dulce-Rodriguez said.