Cambridge reviews hiring after professor Jason Arday resigns over plagiarism and CV claims

Resignation and continuing investigations

Jason Arday resigned from his professorship at the University of Cambridge on Wednesday, 5 August, after the university launched a probe into his academic qualifications and honorary appointments. Cambridge confirmed on Friday, 7 August, that it would continue investigating "the circumstances around Jason Arday's appointment and tenure" regardless of his resignation, with findings to feed into a review of the process for appointing senior academic roles. The university's research policy committee is also reviewing its misconduct in research policy and examining several complaints against him. The University of Glasgow, where Arday was professor of sociology of education from January 2022 to March 2023, announced its own review, with a spokesperson saying its principal had commissioned it to "learn lessons."

Allegations under scrutiny

The controversy centers on allegations that Arday plagiarized parts of his PhD thesis, completed at Liverpool John Moores University in 2015. Liverpool John Moores investigated and found no irregularities, calling the issues "honest and reasonable error." Cambridge then opened an internal probe after receiving "new information" about qualifications and honorary appointments on his CV, including temporary lectureships that the universities involved never confirmed. Press reports have also questioned other claims: that he ran 600 miles in six days between Edinburgh and London, and that he raised £5.5m for charity. The Independent reported that Arday claimed masked men threatened him twice, the second time at knifepoint, though CCTV did not capture them. He told the Guardian a severed pig's head was sent to his home; police said "categorically" that no such investigation took place, and the butcher he named had no recollection of selling the pig.

Arday's response

Arday has admitted errors in his work but denied plagiarism and lying about his achievements. He said his resignation should not be "interpreted wrongly as acceptance" of the accusations, which he called "racially motivated." Appointed in 2023 at age 37, he became the youngest Black professor in Cambridge's history. His life story included being unable to speak until age 11 and an early autism diagnosis, elements central to the narrative around his appointment.

Calls for independent inquiry

Dozens of academics signed a letter to Vice-Chancellor Prof Deborah Prentice demanding an independent investigation. The letter cited "toxic and frequently racist commentary" in media coverage and warned that false claims could "set back the modest progress Cambridge has made in addressing historical underrepresentation." Prentice became vice-chancellor in July 2023, after Arday's appointment.

Prof Priyamvada Gopal, professor of postcolonial studies at Cambridge's English faculty, told the Press Association the resignation was not the end of the story.

“This cannot be a case of the university marking its own homework. We are absolutely clear that the investigation needs to be independent, not in the university's own hands, and needs to be completely transparent and accountable to the Cambridge community.”

Gopal also questioned why the media narrative focused "so heavily" on Arday's race and youth, and whether the university had tried to deter journalists from reporting on the allegations.

Wider reverberations

The case has drawn broader attention to academic hiring. Prof Kehinde Andrews, the UK's first Black studies professor, said on Talk TV that no white professor would face this level of scrutiny. The Independent reported that Nathan Cofnas, a biologist who describes himself as a "race realist" and was previously fired from a Cambridge college, led the criticism. Arday's memoir, "Great and Unfortunate Things," is scheduled for US publication on 11 August by Simon & Schuster. He claimed a 1.4 million advance without specifying the currency. The Guardian's editorial board called on the publisher to pause while inquiries run their course.