Cambridge slams ‘feeding frenzy’ over dead academic

The head of the University of Cambridge yesterday condemned a “racist feeding frenzy” prompted by plagiarism claims against the black academic Jason Arday, who was found dead last week after resigning from his post.

After Arday, Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor, was found dead on Friday following multiple plagiarism accusations, university chancellor Chris Smith told the BBC he believed it was important that claims of plagiarism were “rigorously investigated.”

But Smith said it was also right to “refuse to join in a racist feeding frenzy over a particular academic,” without naming Arday directly.

A person walks past Jesus College, where black academic Jason Arday was a Fellow, at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, on Saturday.

Photo: AFP

Arday resigned on Aug. 5 after accusations he had plagiarized parts of his doctoral thesis were covered widely by media.

The 41-year-old academic said he had “reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”

On Friday, Arday was found dead at home in London, which British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a Cambridge alumnus, called “a tragedy on so many levels.”

Arday’s family have blamed a “misinformation campaign.”

An online fundraising page for Arday’s family had raised more than ￡146,000 (US$198,000) as of yesterday morning.

A petition demanding a public inquiry into the media coverage of Arday had gathered almost 32,400 signatures yesterday.

The group Stand Up To Racism was set to hold one vigil on London’s Trafalgar Square last night and another in Cambridge.

The university was also facing mounting questions over its handling of the allegations and treatment of Arday.

James Cleverly, a right-wing opposition lawmaker whose mother was born in Sierra Leone, yesterday told the BBC that “quite possibly” some scrutiny of Arday was motivated by racism.

However, the situation would “never have come this far if people within the university establishment — not just Cambridge — had done the robust due diligence and checking that should happen with any senior academic appointment,” he said.

Last week, prior to the announcement of Arday’s death, Cambridge vice chancellor Deborah Prentice announced an investigation into the circumstances of his appointment and his time working at the university.