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Death Spurs Reflection
Jason Arday, 41, a former Cambridge professor and Jesus College fellow, was found dead Friday at an address in south London, nine days after he quit as Cambridge University professor and Jesus College fellow following probes into allegations.
“Jason Arday, 41, was found dead Friday”
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for
It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgment. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this,
Racism Claims and Police
Arday’s family said in a statement that he had been
subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse
,
and said the death was being treated as “unexpected” but not suspicious, with officers called to an address in south London on Friday afternoon and a 41-year-old man pronounced dead at the scene.
Cambridge professor and director of the Autism Research Centre Simon Baron-Cohen told the BBC that Arday felt he was being “bombarded” by the media “to paint him as a fraud,” and said Arday “was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life.”
Cambridge vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice said the university was “desperately saddened” and that it would investigate the circumstances around Arday’s employment, while the Metropolitan Police said it was preparing a file for the coroner.
Investigations and Fallout
The controversy around Arday’s resignation and death followed weeks of headlines alleging plagiarism in his academic work and questions about claims about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments, with the BBC describing the death as prompting outcries that the allegations were magnified into a “cruel public takedown” motivated by racism and hostility to DEI.
“following new information about Professor Arday’s qualifications and honorary appointments”
Cambridge opened investigations into plagiarism after it announced probes into various allegations, and later changed its stance to say it had opened an investigation “following new information about Professor Arday’s qualifications and honorary appointments.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on X that Arday faced “an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse” and that he was the victim of “a pernicious public shaming,” while National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said Arday had been subjected to “a public and brutal takedown that unleashed a tirade of racism.”
In the days after the death, tributes and planned remembrance included a vigil held on Monday evening on the steps of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, with Stand Up To Racism co-convenor Weyman Bennett saying Arday’s death “was the result of a racist witch hunt.”
