DOZENS of academics from Scottish universities have signed an open letter in support of the suspension 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 blog post 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."
Nearly 2000 academics from institutions across the world have now signed a letter in support of Cofnas's suspension, writing that they "resist" the framing of Ghent University's investigation as "a punishment for 'whistleblowing'".
It comes after a separate open letter, which was signed by eight Scottish academics, alleged that Cofnas was being punished for "whistleblowing" on Arday.
The new letter, which was started by academics at Ghent University, calls on the instutition "not to let itself be instrumentalised by people and networks attempting to use the institution to give credibility to racist pseudoscience".
It states that "serious concerns" were raised about Cofnas's hire at Ghent University before the death of Professor Arday, which were "related to his racist and white supremacist ideas as well as to the procedure through which he was hired".
The academics go on to say that Ghent University's decision to suspend Cofnas is not "an infringement on academic freedom", arguing that "Cofnas himself seems less concerned with the issue of academic freedom".
"In his own writings, we find numerous passages calling for the expulsion of those who disagree with him rather than engaging in rational dialogue with them," they wrote.
The academics concluded that the matter "concerns scholars everywhere, as appeals to absolutist academic freedom as a guise for pursuing racist and pseudoscientific research threaten the integrity and credibility of research as a whole".
Among the signatories include academics from the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Stirling, University of Aberdeen and the James Hutton Institute.
See the full list of Scottish academics who signed the letter at the time of writing below.
The 30 Scottish academics to sign open letter in support of Nathan Cofnas's suspension
- Professor Erin Jessee, University of Glasgow
- Professor Lisa DeBruine, University of Glasgow
- Professor Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, University of Glasgow
- Professor Clara Cohen, University of Glasgow
- Dustin Hosseini, associate tutor, University of Glasgow
- Ophira Gamliel, senior lecturer in South Asian religions, University of Glasgow
- Michael Scanlan, lecturer in politics, University of Glasgow
- Katy Joyce, research assistant at the James Hutton Institute
- Blair Matthews, lecturer, University of St Andrews
- Professor Nicki Hitchcott, University of St Andrews
- Professor Catherine Abbott, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Annika Bergman Rosamond, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Alejandro De Coss Corzo, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Nida Alahmad, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Ana Zeron, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Nicola Perugini, University of Edinburgh
- Andrea Paterlini lecturer in genetics education, University of Edinburgh
- Isabelle Darmon, lecturer in sociology, University of Edinburgh
- Dilan Tulsiani, post-doc, University of Edinburgh
- Nachi Valliappan, post-doc, University of Edinburgh
- Jarmo de Vries, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh
- Shaimaa Abulebda, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh
- Priyambada Seal, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh
- Lena Wanggren, University of Edinburgh
- Judith Rauhofer, other, University of Edinburgh
- Rohanie Campbell-Thakoordin, administrative and/or other staff, University of Edinburgh
- Sally Fereday, CFIRM, Glasgow Caledonian University
- Shaun Mclaren, postgraduate student, University of Stirling
- Roger Watt, other, University of Stirling
- Phoenix Andrews, research fellow, University of Aberdeen
More than 1700 academics from various countries have signed the letter so far, including from the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Ghent University, University of Antwerp and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A Glasgow Caledonian University spokesperson said: “Sally Fereday is not a member of staff at GCU. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment.”
The University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews, University of Stirling, University of Aberdeen and the James Hutton Institute have all been approached for comment.
