Nathan Cofnas suspension at Ghent criticised by US envoy

US ambassador to Belgium Bill White has criticised Ghent University's suspension of Nathan Cofnas, a US academic who led plagiarism accusations against former Cambridge professor Jason Arday.

White posted on X that the university's decision was an attempt to silence Cofnas. He also said Washington would review any relationship it may have with Ghent University, calling institutions that engage in or reward “scapegoating mob behavior” undesirable partners.

Cofnas said on X on Thursday that Ghent had suspended him, adding: “They will almost certainly fire me.” Ghent University did not name Cofnas in its statement, but said it had opened a preliminary disciplinary investigation into a postdoctoral researcher involved in the controversy and had suspended him “as a precautionary measure.”

The university said it was assessing whether there were sufficient grounds to begin full disciplinary proceedings. In an earlier statement, Ghent said it was “shocked” by Arday's death and took “very seriously” public statements made by its researcher about him.

Arday, who was appointed in 2023 as Cambridge's youngest-ever Black professor, was found dead in mid-August at the age of 41. He had resigned on August 5 while facing accusations that he had plagiarised parts of his doctoral thesis and exaggerated some personal achievements.

Arday disputed the allegations. His family blamed what it called a racially motivated “misinformation campaign.”

Cofnas, who describes himself as a “race realist,” was dismissed from a Cambridge post two years ago. Last month he said he had found numerous examples of plagiarism in Arday's work, after earlier concerns about Arday's writing had not led to action.

British media and right-wing commentators later seized on the case, claiming Arday had unfairly benefited from diversity, equality and inclusion policies.