Nathan Cofnas, the American researcher at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium who first published the accusations against Jason Arday in a Substack post, has been suspended from his position at his university.
Arday was the youngest black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge. However, it was revealed that, allegedly, much of his doctoral thesis was plagiarized, he included quotes from himself in it, and—on top of all that—had made outlandish false claims about his accomplishments outside academia.
The international media attention following his exposé ultimately drove Arday to suicide, who passed away at age 41 earlier this month.
Following the death of Arday, Ghent University announced in a public statement that they are launching an investigation into Cofnas’ conduct, and they are suspending him pending the investigation as a precaution.
Rector Petra De Sutter and Vice Rector Herwig Reynaert have also spoken on the matter in a joint statement, saying that, ‘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;' and added that their university ‘stands for respect for human dignity and opposes discrimination, hatred and racism,’ as quoted by an article on BBC.com.
Cofnas bluntly commented on his suspension. In another blog post, he wrote, ‘I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me. The decision was made by rector Petra De Sutter, a former leader of the Green Party’.
De Sutter served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Civil Service, Public Enterprises, Telecommunication and Postal Services of Belgium between 2020 and 2025. A biological male identifying as a woman, he was the first-ever transgender person to serve as a minister in the European Union. He has been leading Ghent University since April 2025.
Cofnas, meanwhile, is a self-described ‘race realist’ who argues in his research that black people on average are less intelligent than other racial groups. This will certainly hurt his case in his investigation by the university.
He was previously employed at the University of Cambridge, the same institution where the late Arday taught classes, but was fired in 2024 for comments he made about black people. Cofnas stated that in a truly meritocratic system, black people would ‘disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment’.
Critics of Jason Arday Facing Punitive Measures
This is not the first time someone investigating the alleged plagiarism by Professor Arday faces punitive action.
A journalist at Times Higher Education was the first to start working on the story in September 2025. However, once he emailed questions about the allegations to Arday, not only did the professor retain a law firm specializing in defamation cases, but the journalist was also investigated by Scotland Yard for supposed harassment and was told to stop his queries…
Related articles:
At a time when public debate is increasingly polarized and superficial, Hungarian Conservative remains committed to depth, intellectual honesty, and independent conservative thought.
Producing high-quality journalism requires resources. Your contribution helps us expand our coverage, reach new audiences, and keep our content accessible.
Please consider supporting our mission.
