Rather than taking accountability for allegedly erring in elevating the former Professor Jason Arday, University of Cambridge officials have seized upon the left-wing narrative of trying to pin his death on media attention over allegations of plagiarism and fabricating aspects of his life story.
Last week, former Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, Jason Arday, was found dead in a London flat just days after sensationally resigning from his prestigious post amid accusations of rampant plagiarism, including for his thesis, which analysis had suggested was in large part identical to another student’s paper. No cause of death has yet been announced.
Despite having been made aware of the allegations as early as 2023, Cambridge took no action until after the plagiarism claims were made public last month by University of Ghent philosopher Nathan Cofnas, who was fired from Cambridge’s Emmanuel College in 2024 after expressing the view that meritocratic admissions in universities would see a drastic decline in the number of black students in universities like Harvard.
Following the disclosure of the plagiarism allegations against Arday, questions also emerged over alleged tall tales in his autobiography, including his assertion that he was unable to talk until he was 11 and unable to read or write until 18 due to autism, yet also overcame this to earn a doctorate by 30. Other details included astonishing athletic feats for charity, to having a severed pig’s head left at his parents’ front door in a cardboard box, which he claimed to have disposed of, unrecorded and undiscussed, without the knowledge of anyone else.
Amid the controversy and Cambridge’s announcement of an investigation, Arday resigned earlier this month. However, the story continued to gain traction, as the saga was said by some to demonstrate the folly of academia’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda and seemingly sliding standards.
In an apparent bid to distract from the issue and the alleged culpability of Cambridge, prominent leftists in Britain were quick over the weekend to attempt to blame media scrutiny for Arday’s untimely and so far publicly unexplained death and claim that supposed “racism” had contributed to his tragic end. This narrative has been picked up by senior members of the 800-year-old university’s staff, including the principal of Homerton College, Lord Woolley, who demanded an investigation into the “vicious media onslaught” against Arday, according to The Telegraph.
Woolley, who previously served as the chairman of the UK government’s Race Disparity Unit and who founded the Operation Black Vote (OBV) campaign group, said: “There are constant questions about research misuse and plagiarism… There are a number of individuals who have all been subject to accusations and findings of plagiarism, not one of them has been subject to the degree Jason Arday has.
“You also have to understand the whole of the black community and black academics are being brought into this debate as though we don’t belong in these positions because we are, collectively, the diversity, equity and inclusion hires.”
Lord Woolley, who met with Arday alongside Labour MP Diane Abbott and activist Misan Harriman just days before the former professor’s death, added: “He said he felt hounded to death, his words. And he couldn’t see a way out.”
The crossbench peer has added his name to an open letter issued by the Good Law Project and signed by prominent leftist politicians, which called for “immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press”.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor of Cambridge University, Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury, also attempted to blame racism for Arday’s death.
“I do believe it is possible to hold to two principles at the same time: to believe in the importance of academic integrity, and where criticisms of plagiarism arise, about any academic, whoever they are, ensure that they are rigorously investigated. And also to refuse to join in a racist feeding frenzy over a particular academic,” the school’s chancellor said.
Others noted that Arday’s spectacular fall from grace would not have been possible if he had not been pedestalised in the first place. Britain’s first black home secretary, Sir James Cleverly, remarked: “It could and should have never come this far. If people within the university establishment, not just Cambridge, had done the robust due diligence and checking that should happen with any senior academic appointment.
“I can’t help but feel that the rush to use Jason Arday as a bragging right by some universities – the glee with which they said ‘we’ve got the youngest-ever black professor’, talking about his age and his ethnicity rather than his talent, I think was part of the reason he was lifted so high so quickly.”