Cambridge Chancellor Condemns Racist Frenzy After 41-Year-Old Jason Arday's Death
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 17
Cambridge Chancellor Condemns Racist Frenzy After 41-Year-Old Jason Arday's Death
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 17
Summary
Lord Chris Smith said Cambridge could defend academic integrity while rejecting the "racist feeding frenzy" that engulfed Jason Arday before his death on Friday.
Arday, 41, resigned his sociology of education post on 5 August amid plagiarism allegations but said his departure should not be read as accepting the claims; Liverpool John Moores University had already cleared his 2015 PhD.
Cambridge nonetheless announced an independent investigation into his appointment last week, after former Cambridge academic Nathan Cofnas publicized allegations about Arday's work.
More than 30,000 people have signed a Good Law Project petition seeking an inquiry into media coverage, which it says followed two weeks of relentless harassment.
The case has widened into a debate over race and scrutiny in academia, where black professors make up about 1% of UK university professors; vigils were held in Cambridge and are planned in Trafalgar Square.