{"id":730867,"date":"2026-08-07T22:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/730867\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:42:13","slug":"cambridge-academics-reject-universitys-attempt-to-end-row-over-jason-arday-jason-arday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/730867\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambridge academics reject university\u2019s attempt to end row over Jason Arday | Jason Arday"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Cambridge<\/a> has announced a review into the way it vets and hires senior academic staff in an effort to fend off external and internal criticism of its appointment of Jason Arday as a professor.<\/p>\n

But a group of Cambridge academics quickly rejected the university\u2019s response, saying: \u201cWe strongly believe that a thorough and transparent investigation into the wider circumstances of this damaging episode is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arday resigned earlier this week<\/a> after mounting scepticism over his personal and professional claims, three-and-a-half years after he was acclaimed as Cambridge\u2019s youngest black professor with a life story of educational disadvantage, including being unable to speak until the age of 11.<\/p>\n

Cambridge sources said that university and college leaders had hoped Arday\u2019s resignation would end the controversy. But internal anger has continued to grow over his appointment process and the threats to the university\u2019s black staff from toxic media commentary.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Friday<\/a>, Cambridge said: \u201cJason Arday has resigned from his post at the university with immediate effect. Regardless of this, and for clarification, the university will continue to investigate the circumstances around Jason Arday\u2019s appointment and tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings will feed into a review of the process for the appointment of senior academic roles. In addition, and as previously stated, the university\u2019s research policy committee will review the misconduct in research policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian revealed on Thursday<\/a> that Cambridge academics were demanding the university carry out a thorough investigation.<\/p>\n

The letter sent on Friday to Prof Deborah Prentice, Cambridge\u2019s vice-chancellor, highlights the \u201ctoxic and frequently racist commentary\u201d that has accompanied much of the online and media coverage, adding: \u201cThese manifestly false claims have the potential to set back the modest progress Cambridge has made in addressing historical underrepresentation, and to deter any Black academic from applying for or accepting a position at the university in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prentice became vice-chancellor of Cambridge in July 2023, after Arday\u2019s appointment earlier that year.<\/p>\n

Prof Deborah Prentice. Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The letter states: \u201cWe therefore ask that you appoint an independent body comprising senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge to address these issues, with a clear timeline for completing its work and a commitment to share its findings with the university and the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nearly 100 signatories are senior professors and Cambridge academics, including Suchitra Sebastian, a professor of physics, and M\u00f3nica Figueroa, a professor of sociology, as well as Timothy Gowers, a past winner of the Field medal for mathematics. Other prominent names include Nicholas Guyatt, a professor of North American history, Mary Laven, a professor of early modern history, Anuj Dawar, a professor of logic, and Clair Wills, the King Edward VII professor of English literature.<\/p>\n

The signatories want an independent investigation into the circumstances of Arday\u2019s appointment, and any risk assessment made by the university\u2019s management \u201cwhen crafting a media narrative focusing on his youth, his race, and his transformative potential\u201d.<\/p>\n

It also wants details of the university\u2019s handling of allegations of academic misconduct against Arday, including whether the university was involved in efforts to deter journalists from reporting on the allegations.<\/p>\n

The university has denied supporting Arday\u2019s efforts to stop publication of critical coverage in the Times Higher magazine last year, or funding his use of lawyers.<\/p>\n

The signatories also call for an evaluation of the \u201cenormous damage this episode has done to people of colour within and beyond the Cambridge academic community, and what can be done immediately to reassure them \u2013 and the wider public \u2013 that anti-racism and academic integrity at Cambridge are both essential and mutually reinforcing.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Cambridge\u2019s Jesus College \u2013 where Arday was a fellow \u2013 has said it will drop its previously announced plans to carry out a parallel \u201cprocess\u201d to the university\u2019s investigation first revealed on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

A message to staff from Sonita Alleyne, the college\u2019s master, said: \u201cBecause Professor Arday\u2019s college fellowship was contingent on his university appointment, his resignation brought his fellowship to an end. The college\u2019s acceptance of his resignation concludes the process announced in last night\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very difficult time for Professor Arday and his family. As he requested in his resignation letter, we hope that they are now afforded peace and privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Cambridge academic said the message showed that the university wanted to \u201cdraw a line\u201d under the affair in the hope that it would subside.<\/p>\n

Arday\u2019s resignation on Wednesday followed intense media scrutiny, beginning with accusations of plagiarism and followed by questions over a string of his claims<\/a> ranging from endurance running and charity fundraising to confrontations with masked assailants.<\/p>\n

Cambridge initially defended Arday as \u201cthe victim of a vile campaign\u201d before announcing that it would conduct an internal investigation of \u201cnew information\u201d regarding Arday, who then resigned shortly after.<\/p>\n

On Friday night, the University of Glasgow said it would review its past appointment of Arday as a professor.<\/p>\n

A university spokesperson said: \u201cJason Arday was employed as professor of sociology of education at the University of Glasgow, from January 2022 to March 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe left the university to take up his role as professorial chair at the University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principal has commissioned a review of the appointment with the aim of understanding all the facts and learning lessons for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Cambridge has announced a review into the way it vets and hires senior academic staff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-730867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}