Flyers detailing the court summons of a former graduate student's lawsuit against a USC professor, Harris Pastides and the university were posted in McMaster College on Monday morning on stairwell railings and hallways throughout the building. Copies of an article by The State newspaper on the lawsuit were also posted.
The students involved in posting the flyers throughout the school declined to comment, but third-year media arts student Owen Gambrell saw the flyers when he came into the building around 9 a.m.
"I was walking up the middle stairwell of the McMaster building and I noticed there were some papers taped to the handrail of the middle stairwell," Gambrell said. "Typically there’s all kinds of stuff hung up around McMaster, but no one really ever tries to stick it on the handrail, so it called out to me a little bit.”
Gambrell said the flyers brought the issue to his attention and raised his awareness about the lawsuit.
“It certainly got attention ... I looked into this event after these court summons," Gambrell said. "Now I know more about the issue, so mission accomplished for the individual who wanted to raise awareness for such a thing, and I hope that at the very least these allegations are addressed.”
The former graduate student suing the university, Allison Dunavant, and her attorney Samantha Albrecht declined to comment, saying they had nothing to do with the flyers. University of South Carolina officials said their investigation into the allegations is ongoing.
"We would like students to know we take complaints and allegations about faculty and staff seriously and investigate them appropriately," said university spokesman Jeff Stensland in a text message.
Read The Daily Gamecock's full article about the lawsuit's allegations here.