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Pastides talks with campus police force
President concerned with group’s morale in wake of trustee’s accusations
CommentsUSC president Harris Pastides visited with the campus police force Thursday to show his support for a unit that was accused of targeting athletes by a prominent member of the university’s Board of Trustees this week.
Eddie Floyd, the Florence surgeon who has served on the board since 1982, said he was told some campus officers were overzealous in their investigations and arrests of Gamecock athletes.
Pastides, who succeeded Andrew Sorensen on Aug. 1, has not yet had a chance to meet with Floyd about his comments.
“He is a distinguished and senior member of the board. I’ll need to sit down and speak with him,” Pastides said Friday. “But beyond that, my first job is to reassure our community that we have a very professional and capable force. And I told that to Chief (Ernie) Ellis and all of them.”
Pastides said he spoke to police for about 10 minutes.
“My concern was that their morale might have been affected,” he said. “You couldn’t tell by seeing them. They were respectful. ... They seemed to be very appreciative.”
Floyd, who cited no evidence for his allegations, declined to comment Friday during a break in the trustees’ meeting. Mike Mungo, another longtime trustee, said university officials looked into Floyd’s claims and found no evidence of a police conspiracy against athletes.
Pastides said he would not censure or reprimand Floyd, whose donations to the athletics department helped build the Gamecocks’ current football offices.
“The board is a self-regulating body. They don’t report to me,” Pastides said. “I have full confidence that they will have the conversations they need to have and work things out.”
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