Scholar Who Exposed Black Cambridge Prof’s Plagiarism Suspended As School Decries ‘Discrimination’

Nathan Cofnas, the academic who exposed plagiarism allegations against former Cambridge professor Jason Arday, has been suspended by a Belgian university over public statements about the scandal and placed under disciplinary investigation.

Ghent University announced Thursday that it had suspended a postdoctoral researcher as a “precautionary measure” while it investigates whether disciplinary action is warranted. Cofnas identified himself as the researcher and said he expects the university to fire him.

“I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me,” Cofnas wrote on X Thursday.

The university did not name Cofnas in its statement, but said the investigation concerns “recent public statements” by a postdoctoral researcher about Arday, who was found dead in his London home last week after resigning from Cambridge amid an investigation into his academic record.

“Ghent University stands for respect for human dignity and opposes discrimination, hatred, and racism,” Rector Petra De Sutter and Vice-Rector Herwig Reynaert said. “We attach great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial. However, that freedom is not unlimited.”

The university said it imposed the suspension pending a preliminary disciplinary investigation to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to refer the matter to its disciplinary body.

Cofnas, however, argues that he is being punished for reporting facts that powerful academic institutions failed to confront.

“I’m an easy scapegoat,” Cofnas wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Friday. “The lesson can’t be that it’s unacceptable to point out wrongdoing that implicates powerful public figures.”

Cofnas first published his allegations against Arday on July 21 in a Substack article titled “DEI Fraud and Cover-Up at Cambridge.” Using plagiarism-detection software, Cofnas identified what he said were extensive similarities between portions of Arday’s doctoral thesis and an earlier thesis by another academic. Subsequent reporting raised additional questions about Arday’s academic credentials, employment history and extraordinary claims about his personal life.

Arday, who had been celebrated as Cambridge’s youngest black professor, denied plagiarism but acknowledged mistakes in his academic work. Cambridge initially defended him, describing criticism as a “vile campaign to undermine his credibility.”

That position changed after further reporting prompted the university to launch an investigation into Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments. Arday resigned from his professorship the same day Cambridge announced the investigation.

“I no longer wish to feel as though I am living under a constant spotlight, where every aspect of my life is subject to public examination and judgement,” Arday wrote in his resignation statement.

Nine days later, Arday was found unresponsive at his home in south London and pronounced dead. Police said the death was unexpected but was not being treated as suspicious. 

Cofnas has acknowledged that his reporting contributed to the chain of events that followed, but rejects the suggestion that he bears moral responsibility for Arday’s death.

“I set off a series of events that led to a death,” Cofnas wrote Friday. “If I say I have no regrets, it sounds like I don’t appreciate the horrific nature of the outcome. If I say I do regret it, it sounds like I’m accepting moral responsibility for what happened.”

“But the lesson can’t be that it’s unacceptable to point out wrongdoing that implicates powerful public figures,” he continued. “That’s what I did when I exposed fraud and institutional corruption at Cambridge.”

Cofnas has also pointed to the scale of the media coverage that followed his original article. He wrote that he published one article while British newspapers subsequently published 249 articles about Arday over a 22-day period.

“Although no one has found so much as a mistaken comma in the article I wrote about Arday, I’m apparently not entitled to protection against attack for telling the truth,” Cofnas wrote.

The National Union of Journalists has criticized Cofnas following Arday’s death, describing his role as “deeply concerning” and noting that he has previously described himself as a “race realist.”

Cofnas is a controversial figure in academia. Cambridge investigated him in 2024 and concluded that his published views were offensive to many but did not breach university rules. He subsequently sued Emmanuel College alleging discrimination, but lost his case and is appealing the decision.

He later moved to Ghent University as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences.

In its statement, Ghent University said it recognizes the importance of academic freedom but that such freedom “goes hand in hand with responsibility and may be restricted to protect the rights of others.” The university did not specify which of Cofnas’ statements it believes may constitute discrimination, citing the confidentiality of personnel and disciplinary proceedings.

Cofnas argues that the disciplinary investigation is itself evidence of the tension between academic freedom and ideological conformity that he has spent years criticizing.

“The university has laid the groundwork to fire me,” Cofnas told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m the scapegoat for everyone.”