A sad casualty of DEI/Woke at Cambridge University

[TSwizzle]

Just got through reading his Wikipedia page:

Jason Arday

Holy crap. It seems his whole life story was embellished, if not outright fabricated. Not just his academic record. He should never have been hired by Cambridge in the first place. What a shit show from beginning to end.

Arday also made a complaint about Grove to the Metropolitan Police, who contacted the reporter requesting that he not communicate with Arday again. Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, later acknowledged that the complaint about Grove should not have been taken forward.

A bit of “two tier policing” thrown in for good measure.

 

[thebeave]

Just got through reading his Wikipedia page:

Jason Arday

Holy crap. It seems his whole life story was embellished, if not outright fabricated. Not just his academic record. He should never have been hired by Cambridge in the first place. What a shit show from beginning to end.

You're taking wiki to heart on a very hot button political topic?

Says the guy whose main source of information and news he publishes on this forum comes from randos on Twitter/X, Facebook, et al.

Wikipedia is not certainly not perfect, but the sources are provided for reference and the content is corrected and updated as needed.

 

[TSwizzle]

“the unthinking culture warriors who have supported [Arday] unconditionally share responsibility with his racist critics for making life harder for Black academics and dragging UK higher education deeper into the mire".
-Sociologist Paul Gilroy, University College London

There is zero evidence to suggest the suspicion surrounding Arday’s claims were motivated by race. And I wonder, what makes life harder for black academics in the UK.

 

[steve_bank]

TSwizzle

Consider that on this liberal forum you could consider yourself a diversity quota.

The token conspiracy theorist.

 

[Elixir]

I wonder, what makes life harder for black academics in the UK.

Prob’ly the same thing that makes life harder for black people in general:
RACISM.
Ya think?

 

[Toni]

The real issue here is that colleagues felt it was acceptable and perhaps even responsible to harass and harangue a colleague who they felt was not up to the standards of the position for which he was hired. They felt entitled to do so because he was black and therefore a DEI hire.

Bunch of people in this thread seem to agree: it is ok to harass a colleague you think was hired unfairly instead of addressing your concerns with Cambridge and presenting your evidence of the colleagues’s dishonesty and unfitness irrespective of the color of his skin.

I don’t know much about hiring practices at universities in other countries but I do know that from time to time in the US, some academic is found to be guilty of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty and generally they are forced to resign.

What is unusual about this case is that apparently nothing is happening to colleagues ( and under the circumstances, this term is applied very loosely as nothing about the behavior could be considered to be remotely close to collegiality) who behaved so unprofessionally towards a fellow academic—or fellow human being.

Cambridge’s hiring practices should be thoroughly reviewed of course, both ti better vet prospective hire’s curriculum vitae —and also to learn as much about the character of all those who work at Cambridge.

It’s hard not to conclude that the real issue here is in fact the racist behavior of academics and administration at Cambridge.

They should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

 

[TSwizzle]

It’s hard not to conclude that the real issue here is in fact the racist behavior of academics and administration at Cambridge.

Agreed, Arday was hired because of race.

 

[Politesse]

"When someone kills themselves, those who supported them when they were struggling are as much to blame as those who attacked and threatened them" sounds like an incredibly dangerous rule to establish.

 

[Toni]

I’m

It’s hard not to conclude that the real issue here is in fact the racist behavior of academics and administration at Cambridge.

Agreed, Arday was hired because of race.

Arday was harassed because he was black.

In order to establish that he was hired because he was black but not harassed because he was black, you’d need to demonstrate that other academics at Cambridge who are white males and who are discovered to have plagiarized work or inflated their credentials are similarly harassed by their colleagues.

Adults know that there are well established procedures to bring to the attention of administration suspected plagiarism or other academic dishonesty.

The correct course of action if you suspect academic dishonesty is not to harass the person you suspect. It is to bring your concerns to administration.

The correct course of action if you disagree with the criteria used to hire a colleague is not to harass the colleague but to bring your concerns to administration.

The correct course of action is not to be so vile that you drive another human being to suicide.

 

[Politesse]

The sad tale of Cambridge "professor" Jason Arday has come to a tragic end.

Jason Arday, the academic who resigned last week as a professor at the University of Cambridge, has been found dead at his home in south London. The Metropolitan police said officers were called to Arday’s address by the London ambulance service after 3pm on Friday.
Arday’s family said in a statement: “Jason was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse for more than three years since he accepted the role of professor at Cambridge University by those who would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him. “The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone. “We are in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son. We won’t comment further at this point beyond asking the press to leave us alone now, and to stop the campaign of harassment which has been waged against Jason and his family for too long.”
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m devastated for the family and friends of Jason Arday. He faced an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse. I know many Londoners will be angry and upset this evening. “Jason Arday was the victim of a pernicious public shaming that other people in his position simply wouldn’t have faced. His death was a tragedy, but once again it should be a wake-up call for all of us.”
Arday was appointed professor of sociology of education at Cambridge in 2023, and was the university’s youngest-ever black professor. But he resigned last week after accusations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career and achievements.

Teh Grauniad

Collateral damage in Cambridge's desire to be uber woke.

Tell me, are you actually sad that Arday is dead? Because you seem more vindictive than sad, but perhaps you have hidden depths. How would Arday's life have gone had you had your way and the university never hired him? What is the ideal career, in your view, for a Black man who wants to pursue an education but is prevented from entering the university? What would you have advised him to do with his life?

 

[laughing dog]

Mr Arbray was hired by Cambridge University based on his (unblemished) record at the time of his hiring. The various allegations and investigations occurred after his start at Cambridge.

So how was his hiring due to DEI/Woke?

 

[Toni]

Mr Arbray was hired by Cambridge University based on his (unblemished) record at the time of his hiring. The various allegations and investigations occurred after his start at Cambridge.

So how was his hiring due to DEI/Woke?

Pssst: Mr. Arday was black. That’s how you know he was a DEI hire.

D’oh.

 

[TomC]

Mr Arbray was hired by Cambridge University based on his (unvetted) record at the time of his hiring. The various allegations and investigations occurred after his start at Cambridge.

So how was his hiring due to DEI/Woke?

FIFY
I don't pretend to know all that happened there. I'm always sad that someone offed themselves.
But being black doesn't mean that he's an innocent victim.
Tom

 

[steve_bank]

In 70s 80s I supported affirmative action. Blacks and others were blatantly discriminated against in hiring. Police and fire unions complained that minorities lower on the qualification lli9sts than whites got hired.

I looked at it as priming the pump.

But eventually it got out of control.

California previously passed landmark mandates requiring publicly held corporations headquartered in the state to diversify their boards, but these laws were struck down in court as unconstitutional violations of equal protection. Other contexts involving "dirty" or controversial corporate and public board practices in California typically refer to political/lobbying non-disclosure or conflict-of-interest investigations.

When I worked at Lockheed in the 80s there were minority diversity quotas in government contracts.

Here in Seattle diversity is elevated to a glorified status.

At ts point education is open to most everybody and everybody can compete for opportunity. Of course it is never perfect.

At this point I oppose mandated diversity.

 

[Politesse]

It’s hard not to conclude that the real issue here is in fact the racist behavior of academics and administration at Cambridge.

Agreed, Arday was hired because of race.

I didn't realize you were on the hiring committee? Oh, no, wait, you only think that because he's Black. Because you're racist. Not because you have any idea why he was hired or on what grounds.

 

[steve_bank]

I wonder, what makes life harder for black academics in the UK.

Prob’ly the same thing that makes life harder for black people in general:
RACISM.
Ya think?

Do you really think racism is still a major factor in academia?

 

[laughing dog]

Mr Arbray was hired by Cambridge University based on his (unvetted) record at the time of his hiring. The various allegations and investigations occurred after his start at Cambridge.

So how was his hiring due to DEI/Woke?

FIFY
I don't pretend to know all that happened there. I'm always sad that someone offed themselves.
But being black doesn't mean that he's an innocent victim.
Tom

You didn’t fix it. Unless vetting for university hirings has changed recently, no one checks for plagiarism in the hiring process. It is the degree and publication record that is scrutinized.

Being black doesn’t mean he is necessarily an innocent victim. But that doesn’t my question.

I don’t know the extent (if any) the allegations are true. Maybe DEI/Woke is the primary reason gir his appointment but no one has come up with anything solid to support that claim.

 

[laughing dog]

I wonder, what makes life harder for black academics in the UK.

Prob’ly the same thing that makes life harder for black people in general:
RACISM.
Ya think?

Do you really think racism is still a major factor in academia?

“Major”? No. But it very well can be a factor.

 

[Politesse]

Mr Arbray was hired by Cambridge University based on his (unvetted) record at the time of his hiring. The various allegations and investigations occurred after his start at Cambridge.

So how was his hiring due to DEI/Woke?

FIFY
I don't pretend to know all that happened there. I'm always sad that someone offed themselves.
But being black doesn't mean that he's an innocent victim.
Tom

He doesn't have to be "innocent" of all sins, for it to be racist to attack him for his skin color.

 

[Politesse]

I wonder, what makes life harder for black academics in the UK.

Prob’ly the same thing that makes life harder for black people in general:
RACISM.
Ya think?

Do you really think racism is still a major factor in academia?

Abso-fucking-lutely. Ask any Black, Asian, Mexican, or Native student whether they feel they were treated differently in grade school on account of their race.