US Envoy Threatens Ghent Ties Over Suspended Academic, Putting $869,000 in Grants at Risk
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Aug 22
US Envoy Threatens Ghent Ties Over Suspended Academic, Putting $869,000 in Grants at Risk
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Aug 22
Summary
$869,000 in Pentagon grant obligations to Ghent University could come under review after U.S. Ambassador Bill White said Washington would reassess ties over the suspension of academic Nathan Cofnas.
White called Cofnas a scapegoat and said institutions that reward “mob behavior” are not desirable U.S. partners, escalating the dispute from a campus disciplinary matter to a bilateral funding threat.
Cofnas argued in a Wall Street Journal essay that Cambridge, not he, bore blame for elevating the late professor Jason Arday despite lacking qualifications, and said his views on race made him an easy target.
Arday’s death had already intensified accusations across higher education that a Black professor was subjected to a witch hunt, leaving Ghent under pressure from both political and academic camps.