Remove from the University of Ghent the researcher who promoted the witch hunt against Jason Arday

BarcelonaNathan Cofnas, the North American researcher behind the first plagiarism accusations against Cambridge professor Jason Arday before his death, has been suspended from the University of Ghent, in Belgium, where he worked. The plagiarism accusations, although unproven, led to a wave of scrutiny for weeks that called into question Arday's academic and personal achievements.

A researcher in the department of philosophy and moral sciences, Cofnas defines himself as a "race realist" and published an article on Substack in late July exposing academic misconduct in Arday's doctoral thesis. The academic had already been suspended from Cambridge in 2024 due to complaints from students who stated that the researcher shared discriminatory and racist rhetoric. In fact, a letter demanding his expulsion and detailing his behavior gathered over 1,200 signatures.

"I am being investigated by my university for discrimination against Arday. I will almost certainly be fired," Cofnas posted Thursday evening on X. In the same tweet, he threw a dart at the rector of Ghent University, Petra de Sutter, recalling that she had been a leader of the Greens (Groen). A few hours later, in a statement, the rector and the vice-rector of the same institution, Herwig Reynaert, confirmed the suspension, adding that the institution was against "discrimination, hate, and racism" and that they had taken "appropriate action" in response to the researcher's actions.

Freedom "is not unlimited"

The university added that the suspension is due to recent "public statements" made by Cofnas. Among other things, in an interview with The Times, he had stated that Arday was not "clever enough" to be a Cambridge professor, arguing that he had been appointed to benefit from inclusivity and diversity policies in the workplace in the UK.

As happened when the Arday scandal broke, the process, criteria, and filter of universities when appointing workers and academics has been questioned, now regarding admission to the Cofnas center. The philosopher has an extensive history of interviews and tweets imbued with racist ideas such as "black people will disappear from all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment." Cofnas had also called for a "revolution" against inclusivity and diversity policies in companies and institutions — questioned in recent weeks by the English right during accusations of misconduct against Arday.

While defending "academic freedom and open academic debate even if it is controversial," Ghent University has ruled that this freedom "is not unlimited." The statement calls for "reflection," and asks that we reconsider how "we treat each other," particularly when someone is "the subject of public controversy."