A UCA student filed a report with Conway Police on Nov. 13 that accuses Assistant Professor and Director of Exercise Science Program Mike Gallagher of stalking and harassing her for the last eight months.
According to the report, Gallagher had a previous relationship with the student and began harassing her after she became engaged to her current fiance. She said she then began receiving the first of “hundreds” of harassing emails that “varied wildly.”
She said some emails included relationship advice while others cursed her and called her names. Other emails contained apologies and some contained “veiled threats” to her and her fiance. Gallagher, she said, also sent her fiance messages on Facebook under an assumed name.
She told police that Gallagher changed his daily habits and routes around campus to follow her. She said he drove by her apartment more than once and drove by her apartment complex pool while she was there.
Recently, she said, he has left notes on her apartment door and on her car while she was asleep. She told police that she had only responded to one email, in which she asked him to stop contacting her. No emails or notes were given to police. She said the messages had angered her so much that she immediately destroyed or deleted them.
Officers asked her if she was fearful of Gallagher. She initially said she was not and that she was “just annoyed by the constant contact.” But reports state that after a few moments, she said she was fearful for her life. She told police Gallagher was “going crazy and she did not know what he was capable of.”
Police contacted Gallagher and explained that it would be left to the student’s discretion to file a warrant or no contact order. They also told Gallagher that he should have no further contact with the student. Gallagher said he understood and that he would not contact her again.
The reporting city police officer at told the student to inform UCAPD and university administration about the situation. UCAPD Public Information Officer Brad Moore said the department has no records of the student speaking to a university officer.
The student involved declined to comment.
(Update for clarification:) The Echo attempted to reach Gallagher at the time of publication via phone and email, but received no response. This article will be updated if he responds.
No charges had been filed at the time of publication.
This article originally appeared in the Nov. 18, 2015 print edition of The Echo.
