Belgian university suspends academic who spearheaded plagiarism allegation against Jason Arday

Nathan Cofnas, an academic who led the plagiarism allegation against the late Professor Jason Arday, has been suspended from his postdoctoral researcher position at Ghent University in Belgium. Cofnas announced the development on X, stating he anticipates being fired and that the decision was made by rector Petra De Sutter. The academic, who identifies as a "race realist," previously worked at a Cambridge college but was dismissed in 2024 for expressing views considered racist, including claims that under true meritocracy, Black people would "disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment."

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I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me. The decision was made by rector Petra De Sutter, a former Green Party leader.

Cofnas joined Ghent University earlier this year and has faced criticism for his stance on hereditarianism. In July, he published an analysis alleging that parts of Arday's 2015 PhD thesis closely matched earlier academic material, claiming plagiarism detection software found "many passages are lifted from the works of other scholars with minimal editing." He specifically cited a 2009 dissertation by Paula Zwozdiak-Myers as similar or identical to Arday's work.

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many passages are lifted from the works of other scholars with minimal editing.

Jason Arday denied intentional academic misconduct, acknowledging citation errors but attributing them to inadequate supervision and his autism. The allegations, however, subjected the former Cambridge professor to intense media scrutiny and what many considered racially motivated attacks. Arday was found dead in London last week, days after his resignation. In his resignation statement, Arday said his decision should not be seen as a loss of faith in scholarship.

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his decision to step down should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship.

Following Arday's death, Ghent University confirmed it had begun investigating Cofnas's statements. The university stated it takes "recent public statements made by Mr Cofnas very seriously" and has taken "appropriate action." While emphasizing its commitment to academic freedom and open debate, even on controversial views, the university noted that this freedom is not unlimited and can be restricted to protect the rights of others.

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We attach great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial. However, that freedom is not unlimited. It goes hand in hand with responsibility and may be restricted in order to protect the rights of others.