EIGHT academics from Scottish universities have signed an open letter in support of the researcher who sparked the pile-on which preceded the death of Jason Arday.
Nathan Cofnas, a researcher at Ghent University and self-described "race realist", claimed last week that he had been suspended by the institution.
He announced the probe on social media and alleged he would “almost certainly” be fired.
Cofnas previously said he was under investigation by Ghent University for “discriminating against Arday”.
Professor Arday was found dead earlier this month. He quit his role as professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge following a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis and other research.
An investigation at Liverpool John Moores University cleared Arday of wrongdoing.
Cofnas had revived the accusations of plagiarism against Arday in a blog post earlier this month, saying he was unfit to have become Cambridge University’s youngest ever black professor.
The academic has been accused of racism and has made a number of controversial statements, including writing a blog advocating for scientific racism in 2024.
The self-described "race realist" once said that a "colourblind meritocracy" would see the representation of "certain groups, such as African Americans [...] decimated".
He also wrote a blogpost before his departure from Cambridge University in which he claimed that if Harvard University only recruited "from the best of the best students" it would mean the "number of black professors would approach zero per cent".
In a video recorded with disgraced academic David Starkey around a week after Arday left Cambridge, the pair were seen smiling as the older man said: "The reason we're both grinning is good, honest, straightforward, un-Christian vengeance."
A total of 700 academics from institutions in the UK and abroad have now signed a letter opposing Cofnas’ “punishment” for “whistleblowing” on Arday.
Addressed to Professor Petra De Sutter, rector of the Belgian university, the letter reads: “As academics, we are concerned that Ghent University's disciplinary proceedings against Dr Cofnas appear to constitute retaliation, at least in part, for publicising academic misconduct that occurred in British universities.
“An essential component of academic freedom is the ability to scrutinize the scholarship of other academics, regardless of their position or status. This must include the freedom to provide evidence of academic misconduct, such as plagiarism and fabrication.
“The pursuit of truth depends on rigorous self-policing by academics.
“We are also concerned that the University appears to be treating threats to academic freedom, whether from its own staff claiming distress or from external actors announcing boycotts, as grounds for disciplining the very individual targeted by those threats.
“Therefore we urge Ghent University to protect Dr Cofnas from being punished for exercising his academic freedom.”
Four academics from Edinburgh University are named as signatories on the letter including Professor Robert Black KC FRSE, Professor Emeritus of Scots Law, Dr Timothy Bates, Professor at the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Dr Steven Kerr, and lecturer Brodie Runciman.
Heriot-Watt University's Daniele Fanelli, associate professor in social research methods, and Jais Adam-Troian, an assistant Professor of psychology at the institution's Dubai Campus, signed the letter, as did Professor Klaas Wynne FRSE, chair of Chemical Physics at the University of Glasgow and Jana Mauri Marlborough, PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews.
Hundreds of academics from various countries have signed the letter, including the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of New South Wales, Harvard University, and several independent academics and researchers.
The University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and St Andrews University have been contacted for comment.
He wrote: “Harvard faculty would be recruited from the best of the best students, which means the number of black professors would approach zero per cent.”
A spokesperson for Ghent University said previously that Cofnas was formally notified that a “preliminary disciplinary investigation” had been launched on August 20.
"As part of this process, the university is assessing whether there are sufficient grounds to refer the case to the competent disciplinary body for further consideration,” a spokesperson said.
"Pending this preliminary investigation, Ghent University has suspended the staff member as a precautionary measure.
"The university cannot comment further on the specific details of the disciplinary case or the underlying arguments, in order to safeguard the confidentiality of the personnel file and the disciplinary proceedings."
Arday, who resigned after the plagiarism row, was pronounced dead after emergency services were called to an address in south London, earlier this month to reports that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.
He told a friend he “couldn’t go on” hours before he died after being subjected to intense scrutiny over his academic career.
