By Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Nathan Cofnas, the U.S. academic who raised plagiarism concerns over the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday, said on Thursday he had been suspended by Belgium’s Ghent University and was under investigation for discrimination.
Arday, once hailed as Cambridge’s youngest Black professor, was found dead, aged 41, in London on Friday, days after resigning from his post. Arday had denied the allegation of plagiarism but acknowledged making mistakes.
“I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me,” Cofnas wrote on his X account. In a post a few hours earlier he said he was “under investigation by my university for discriminating against Arday”.
Ghent University said it had suspended Cofnas “as a precautionary measure” pending a preliminary disciplinary investigation, but did not go into further detail on the reasons.
It could not comment any further “to safeguard the confidentiality of the personnel file and the disciplinary proceedings,” it said in an emailed statement.
Thousands attended a vigil in central London on Monday to commemorate Arday. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Arday’s death as a “tragedy on so many levels” and said it was a moment for reflection.
Cofnas wrote on his Substack page on July 21 that he had been contacted by a source at Cambridge University about accusations of plagiarism concerning Arday. Cofnas said at the time he would not reveal who this source was.
Cofnas himself had come under scrutiny in his academic career after Cambridge University’s Emmanuel College ended its association with him after some students expressed concerns over Cofnas’ blog posts, which argued that in a meritocracy “blacks would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment.” Cofnas says he is not a racist and is in legal dispute with Emmanuel College.
The plagiarism allegations against Arday drew huge media coverage, leading to questions about other elements of Arday’s life, including statements he made about his career, personal life and medical conditions. Before his death, Arday repeatedly said the public attacks upon him were taking a toll on him and his family.
His family said on Friday that he had been the victim of misinformation and harassment.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Andrew Heavens and Aurora Ellis)
