The vice chancellor of Cambridge University has announced an investigation into the faculty that appointed ‘Professor Plagiarism’ Jason Arday.
Professor Deborah Prentice said his ‘damaging and difficult case’ had provoked ‘anger and anxiety’ across the university.
In her first public statement on the matter, she said the beleaguered Faculty of Education would be put under investigation for why they appointed him.
And she claimed the case was an ‘aberration and should not be used to cast aspersions on their work or the legitimacy of their roles at Cambridge’.
This morning, the faculty had put their website into lockdown – with a previously public page about its lecturers now made private.
Cambridge initiated a more general investigation last week after fellow academics accused Mr Arday of copying others’ work and inventing some previous academic posts.
He resigned from his post, saying the ‘personal cost’ of the furore had been ‘too great’, and cancelled a series of events to promote his upcoming memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things.
In her statement today, Professor Prentice said: ‘I fully understand the concerns being raised across the University and well beyond it, regarding Jason Arday’s appointment and I share them. I know there is anger and anxiety around this damaging and difficult case.
The vice chancellor of Cambridge University has announced an investigation into the faculty that appointed ‘Professor Plagiarism’ Jason Arday (pictured)
Professor Deborah Prentice (pictured) said his ‘damaging and difficult case’ had provoked ‘anger and anxiety’ across the university
This morning, the faculty had put their website into lockdown – with a previously public page about its lecturers now made private (pictured)
‘We will now investigate the circumstances around his appointment by the Faculty of Education back in 2022 and his time here in Cambridge since his appointment nearly four years ago.
‘That investigation, as you say, should be thorough and transparent, and will be carried out independently by senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge.
‘It will take time for this work to be done thoroughly, as you will understand, but the work must begin as soon as possible.’
She said that the findings of the investigation will ‘inform’ a new ‘review’ of the process for appointing senior academics.
‘As you are fully aware, appointments to senior academic roles, as in the case of the Faculty of Education and Jason Arday, are currently led at Department level,’ she added.
Her statement comes after the Faculty of Education removed its ‘our people’ page from public view following the furore.
The page originally had been available to the public, and listed the department’s senior academics with biographies and lists of their work.
Yesterday The Spectator claimed one of Mr Arday’s faculty colleagues, Dr Farah Ahmed, had historic links to the extreme group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was banned in the UK in 2024.
It came following allegations that Mr Arday’s faculty colleague, Dr Farah Ahmed (pictured), had historic links to the extreme group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was banned in the UK in 2024. However she distanced herself from them in 2010, saying she was not a member and did not agree with many of their views
The Faculty of Education will now be put under investigation for why they appointed him (pictured: faculty head Professor Hilary Cremin)
She had written a chapter for a pamphlet published by the group in 2002, in which she attacked ‘western education’ as a ‘threat’ to Muslims. However, she later said in 2010 she was not a member and did not agree with many of their views.
Last week, video footage from a 2023 BBC film surfaced showing Professor Hilary Cremin, head of the department, telling Mr Arday: ‘We are so lucky to have you… You are the best in the world in terms of the research that you do.’
Professor Prentice said in her statement this morning that she was ‘committed’ to maintaining the ‘highest standards of academic excellence’.
And she said: ‘In light of the focus on this troubling case and the widespread commentary around it, I want to be very clear that we do not need the outcomes of an investigation to clearly and loudly affirm that our staff of colour are highly valued, for their scholarship, their achievements, and the contributions they make to the institution and the wider academic community.
‘This particular case is an aberration and should not be used to cast aspersions on their work or the legitimacy of their roles at Cambridge.’
And she said that while she understood the ‘desire for quick answers’, the reviewers needed time to complete their work effectively so the university can ‘learn from its mistakes’.
Durham and Glasgow universities are investigating the circumstances around Prof Arday’s appointment to academic posts there and Cambridge’s Jesus College has accepted his resignation from his fellowship, according to Professor Prentice.
Mr Arday, a professor of sociology of education who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, quit after fellow academics alleged he plagiarised his PhD thesis – completed at Liverpool John Moores University – and other research.
Further questions were asked about the truth of other claims he made, including having a string of prestigious academic appointments, running 600 miles in six days, raising £5.5million for charity.
An investigation at Liverpool John Moores University cleared Professor Arday of wrongdoing.
Mr Arday said in his open resignation letter that the ‘only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away’.
He said: ‘This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge.
‘Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me.
‘It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.’
Over the weekend, he cancelled events promoting his forthcoming memoir.
Publishers Simon & Schuster said previously that the book, Great And Unfortunate Things, would be published in the UK on August 27. It was out in the US yesterday.
