Academic Nathan Cofnas has been suspended from his position at Ghent University in the wake of the Jason Arday Cambridge scandal.
The American philosopher, currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at Ghent University in Belgium, published evidence of plagiarism in Arday’s work on his own Substack page before the story was picked up by media outlets, which led to a storm of controversy before Arday was found dead at his home in Battersea, London.
Since Arday’s death, Cofnas has been called a “racist” online, including by Harry Potter author J.K Rowling.
Arday was lauded as the youngest Black professor at the prestigious university where he taught the sociology of education, and had made claims such as being non-verbal until the age of 11 and not being able to read until the age of 18.
Earlier today, Cofnas said on X, “I am under investigation by my university for discriminating against Arday.”
Several hours later, he added, “I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me. The decision was made by rector Petra De Sutter, a former leader of the Green Party.”
Petra (Paul) De Sutter is a man who identifies as a woman and was lauded as the first openly transgender identifying minister in Europe.
He is a gynaecologist who was previously appointed at Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister.
In a letter informing Cofnas of his suspension, De Sutter says, We are aware of the questions and concerns surrounding this matter and understand that it has affected many people. We wish to clarify how the university is handling this situation. First and foremost, Ghent University is shocked by the death of Professor Arday.”
“Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and students. His death has also hit our own academic community hard.
At the same time, we wish to be clear about the values we uphold as a university. Ghent University stands for respect for human dignity and opposes discrimination, hatred and racism. We attach great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial. However, that freedom is not unlimited. It goes hand in hand with responsibility and may be restricted in order to protect the rights of others.
For this reason, the university takes the recent public statements made by a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University regarding this matter very seriously. Ghent University has decided to take appropriate action within its powers and the applicable framework. We do not wish to pre-empt any potential decisions at this stage, in order to maintain objectivity. It is important to be transparent, whilst also respecting the confidentiality inherent in a personnel file.
The death of Professor Arday should prompt reflection. We hope that lessons will be learnt from what has happened regarding the way we treat one another both within and outside the academic world, particularly when people become the subject of public controversy.”
Arday claimed to have been non-verbal until the age of 11, and was diagnosed with global developmental delay affecting his ability to talk and read, with therapists and career advisers reportedly predicting he would spend his adult life in assisted living requiring lifelong support.
He also claimed to have been illiterate until he was 18, saying he only learned to read and write at that age, and said he received a dyslexia diagnosis in his first year of university.
He said he could attend mainstream school only one day a week as a young boy, and once at school full-time was frequently pulled from class for disruptive behaviour and taken to a small room with one window.
Arday also claimed to have raised 5 million pounds for charity, to have run 600 miles in six days, and to have completed 30 marathons in 35 days, running the last ten with a cracked fibula.
He claimed academic positions including visiting professorships at the University of Glasgow, Ohio State University, and Nelson Mandela University.