The allegations, the resignation and the death: the storm surrounding the Cambridge professor

American academic Nathan Kopenas, who accused Cambridge professor Jason Arday of plagiarism, has been suspended from Ghent University. Arday, found dead at his home a week ago, resigned from his position after the allegations received widespread coverage. The university has opened a disciplinary investigation against Kopenas.

Ghent University in Belgium has suspended American researcher Nathan Kopenas, who raised allegations of plagiarism against Cambridge professor Jason Arday. Arday, who became Cambridge's youngest Black professor in 2023 at age 37, was found dead at his home last Friday a week ago. He had resigned from his tenured professorship about two weeks earlier, writing in his resignation letter that he had "reached the limit of a person's reasonable capacity to endure." Kopenas claimed on social media that he found numerous instances of plagiarism in Arday's thesis work and that Arday exaggerated personal achievements. The allegations received extensive media coverage in the UK and US. Arday, diagnosed with autism in childhood, denied the accusations. The affair led to claims by right-wing commentators in Britain that Arday had unfairly benefited from diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Kopenas, who previously described himself as a "racial realist" and was fired from Cambridge two years ago, posted on X that he had been suspended. The university announced the suspension of a postdoctoral researcher as a precautionary measure and opened a preliminary disciplinary investigation. Rector Petra De Sutter stated that the university upholds human dignity and opposes discrimination, and that academic freedom is not unlimited.