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Original poster

To think 'academic freedom' and whistleblower punishment are misused in those protesting the suspension of Nathan Cofnas

210 replies

keepcounsel · 23/08/2026 11:22

Many posters have cited 'academic freedom' and 'freedom of expression' as well as 'witch-hunt' in terms of Nathan Cofnas being suspended from the University of Ghent. They've also represented the suspension as punishing a whistle-blower due to his being one of the first to publicly communicate concerns about Jason Arday and plagiarism/academic standards. 200+ academics have signed a letter of protest about the suspension and the American ambassador to Belgium as well as Trump have called for him to be re-hired.

The grounds for his appointment seem to be to work as a post-doc on a Professor's project, so not overseen by the University HR department or a committee in the way a lecturer/professorial appointment would happen.
The work/activities of the Professor in question - Bouke De Vries - had been subject to complaints from his colleagues. When colleagues and students protested about Cofnas being hired Ghent's Rector said dissenting opinions should be allowed in the University.

Ghent have now said the grounds for suspension are due to:

a. He didn't conduct the research he was hired for
[they said 'The projects you publicly and repeatedly associate with your affiliation at Gent University, most notably your
'Guide for the Hereditarian Revolution' which advocates for racial barriers and segregation, fall entirely outside the scope of your official research mandate.']

b. He violated the University's ethics code
['prohibits spreading ideas of racial superiority or inciting racial segregation.']

c. He made statements that violate Belgian anti-discrimination legislation

d. He made remarks about Jason Arday that violate Belgian Criminal Code concerning offences against a person's honour or reputation

e. He caused significant unrest in the workplace by advocating a purge of those academics he thought ideologically wrong

My position as an academic invited to sign the letter of protest against his suspension is that academic freedom/freedom of speech is not unlimited, for example if it involves slander or seeks to assert racial supremacy.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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noblegiraffe · 29/08/2026 15:46

keepcounsel · 29/08/2026 14:58

The Ghent appointment was by just one guy - who seems to share Cofnas’s views

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That does seem to have been a bit of a balls-up. Don’t universities have HR departments?

CossyBunt · 29/08/2026 16:42

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

So according to you, autistic people are not ‘right in the head’? How nasty, untrue and offensive. Is this how you describe autistic people in your everyday life, or are you just trying to pluck slurs out of the air because you don’t like this guy?

Original poster
keepcounsel · 29/08/2026 17:55

noblegiraffe · 29/08/2026 15:46

That does seem to have been a bit of a balls-up. Don’t universities have HR departments?

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As he was being hired by someone to work on his project it was different from regular appointments. All the same, colleagues complained about the lack of transparency.

OP posts:
MargaretMeldrew · 29/08/2026 18:23

CossyBunt · 29/08/2026 16:42

So according to you, autistic people are not ‘right in the head’? How nasty, untrue and offensive. Is this how you describe autistic people in your everyday life, or are you just trying to pluck slurs out of the air because you don’t like this guy?

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Awful. I was just scrolling through the comments to see if anyone else had already flagged up that highly offensive remark.

Original poster
keepcounsel · 29/08/2026 18:55

MargaretMeldrew · 29/08/2026 18:23

Awful. I was just scrolling through the comments to see if anyone else had already flagged up that highly offensive remark.

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didn't see that, really awful

OP posts:
CossyBunt · 29/08/2026 19:17

I’ve reported your hate speech @HollyhocksandPeons
Vile person.

TomEX31 · 30/08/2026 16:58

I encourage anyone able to do so from a position of fairness, to undertake a review of any of Cofnas's work and place any comments on pubpeer or otherwise publish them. I have looked at work of his that is not to do with his controversial race ideas, and find it of questionable quality as scholarship.

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 18:37

TomEX31 · 30/08/2026 16:58

I encourage anyone able to do so from a position of fairness, to undertake a review of any of Cofnas's work and place any comments on pubpeer or otherwise publish them. I have looked at work of his that is not to do with his controversial race ideas, and find it of questionable quality as scholarship.

Why would you do that?
Until now did you care about his work?
If so do you care about the quality of other academics work? There are planty out there that is questionable.
Or is this some sort of revenge and wanting to start some sort of witch hunt?
What is your ultimate goal?

Original poster
keepcounsel · 30/08/2026 20:28

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 18:37

Why would you do that?
Until now did you care about his work?
If so do you care about the quality of other academics work? There are planty out there that is questionable.
Or is this some sort of revenge and wanting to start some sort of witch hunt?
What is your ultimate goal?

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Well he presented himself as upholding academic standards and as having naturally high intelligence and then absolutely attacked Arday - as have others. So why not?

OP posts:
noblegiraffe · 30/08/2026 20:45

I'd say if they're going on pub-whatever and legitimately criticising his shitty academic arguments then they can absolutely crack on.

TomEX31 · 30/08/2026 21:34

My ultimate goal by the way, is to promote reason and root out nonsense where I become aware of it, because I live by the maxim Domina et Regina Omnium Ratio.

I don't feel any need to justify that -- Res Ipsa Loquitur!

noblegiraffe · 30/08/2026 21:43

Lorum ipsum let's not jump to the defence of racists, they've got racists that can do that for them.

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 22:16

TomEX31 · 30/08/2026 21:34

My ultimate goal by the way, is to promote reason and root out nonsense where I become aware of it, because I live by the maxim Domina et Regina Omnium Ratio.

I don't feel any need to justify that -- Res Ipsa Loquitur!

Edited

Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur

On a more civil note.

So you will be posting others that we should chase up?

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 22:17

noblegiraffe · 30/08/2026 20:45

I'd say if they're going on pub-whatever and legitimately criticising his shitty academic arguments then they can absolutely crack on.

Absolutely.

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 22:22

keepcounsel · 30/08/2026 20:28

Well he presented himself as upholding academic standards and as having naturally high intelligence and then absolutely attacked Arday - as have others. So why not?

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An eye for an eye would will make the whole world blind.

I am all for up holding academic rigour as long as its genuinely about upholding academic standards.

If people want to "attack" him for his personal beliefs than they should at least be honest about it.

Original poster
keepcounsel · 30/08/2026 22:54

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 22:22

An eye for an eye would will make the whole world blind.

I am all for up holding academic rigour as long as its genuinely about upholding academic standards.

If people want to "attack" him for his personal beliefs than they should at least be honest about it.

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Nobody advocated attacking him.

Cofnas calls his 'research' 'race science' - as such, he isn't characterising it as a 'personal belief', but rather making a claim for academic validity. As he's framing it in terms of scholarship rather than belief, then we can assume it can be explored and tested in those terms.

OP posts:
Original poster
keepcounsel · 30/08/2026 22:58

TomEX31 · 30/08/2026 21:34

My ultimate goal by the way, is to promote reason and root out nonsense where I become aware of it, because I live by the maxim Domina et Regina Omnium Ratio.

I don't feel any need to justify that -- Res Ipsa Loquitur!

Edited

If you're interested in rooting out nonsense, then you may like to apply your trowel to Cofnas's pseudo-scientific ramblings.

OP posts:
FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 23:44

keepcounsel · 30/08/2026 22:54

Nobody advocated attacking him.

Cofnas calls his 'research' 'race science' - as such, he isn't characterising it as a 'personal belief', but rather making a claim for academic validity. As he's framing it in terms of scholarship rather than belief, then we can assume it can be explored and tested in those terms.

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As I have mentioned before his views and research have been known for some years yet it is only now that people seem to be remotely bothered by them.

It seems to me that advocateing for many people to undertake a review of his published work and then post it aon a peer website is akin to hounding somebody and is (IMO) not wanting a review in any genuine way.

If people genuinely want to dismantle his research that is fine. It has been argued on several threads that his methodology and data is flawed.

I also think that if someone is really that bothered about upholding academic rigour of universities then they should also be pushing for an independent review of university methodology and rigour in marking and moderating work produced by their academics and students.

Original poster
keepcounsel · 31/08/2026 00:09

FrippEnos · 30/08/2026 23:44

As I have mentioned before his views and research have been known for some years yet it is only now that people seem to be remotely bothered by them.

It seems to me that advocateing for many people to undertake a review of his published work and then post it aon a peer website is akin to hounding somebody and is (IMO) not wanting a review in any genuine way.

If people genuinely want to dismantle his research that is fine. It has been argued on several threads that his methodology and data is flawed.

I also think that if someone is really that bothered about upholding academic rigour of universities then they should also be pushing for an independent review of university methodology and rigour in marking and moderating work produced by their academics and students.

Edited
Show quote history

As I have mentioned before his views and research have been known for some years yet it is only now that people seem to be remotely bothered by them.
Not true - he was protested about, then fired from Cambridge and students and academics in Ghent raised concerns the second he was appointed! So people have been extremely 'bothered'.

It seems to me that advocateing for many people to undertake a review of his published work and then post it aon a peer website is akin to hounding somebody and is (IMO) not wanting a review in any genuine way.
Many people think his work is inadequate, is unethical and causes very fundamental harm. As he promotes it as scholarship, the best approach is to analyse it on those terms and publish findings. Mumsnet threads are not the same as peer websites.

I also think that if someone is really that bothered about upholding academic rigour of universities then they should also be pushing for an independent review of university methodology and rigour in marking and moderating work produced by their academics and students.
But people do that, it comes with the territory of being an academic. For example, I've overseen QQA/QQI procedures for the School of Humanities in two universities and have been involved in external examination and moderation of a number of undergrad and postgrad programmes in the UK and elsewhere.

OP posts:
TomEX31 · 31/08/2026 01:08

I asked that persons capable of fairly revieiwing Cofnas's published papers be aware that there may be issues with the same and reminded them that if they find so, there are nowadays ways of expressing their findings. You can characterise that using whatever pejorative you like, it is what it is. Have a look at my papers if you like - Tom Wilde, Representation Theory of Finite Groups. All my own, scholarly, original and valuable contributions to human knowledge and what academia is about. If you disagree, post a review on pubpeer or whetever - be my guest.

noblegiraffe · 31/08/2026 01:14

TomEX31 · 31/08/2026 01:08

I asked that persons capable of fairly revieiwing Cofnas's published papers be aware that there may be issues with the same and reminded them that if they find so, there are nowadays ways of expressing their findings. You can characterise that using whatever pejorative you like, it is what it is. Have a look at my papers if you like - Tom Wilde, Representation Theory of Finite Groups. All my own, scholarly, original and valuable contributions to human knowledge and what academia is about. If you disagree, post a review on pubpeer or whetever - be my guest.

How on earth did Tom Wilde of the Representation Theory of Finite Groups end up on Mumsnet?

TomEX31 · 31/08/2026 01:22

We live in a free world , thankfully. I thought mumsnet would be a kind place and I saw a post on here that I wanted to support. I was not asked if I am myself a mum but for clarity, I am not.

noblegiraffe · 31/08/2026 01:43

TomEX31 · 31/08/2026 01:22

We live in a free world , thankfully. I thought mumsnet would be a kind place and I saw a post on here that I wanted to support. I was not asked if I am myself a mum but for clarity, I am not.

I thought mumsnet would be a kind place

More research needed....

Original poster
keepcounsel · 31/08/2026 07:52

TomEX31 · 31/08/2026 01:08

I asked that persons capable of fairly revieiwing Cofnas's published papers be aware that there may be issues with the same and reminded them that if they find so, there are nowadays ways of expressing their findings. You can characterise that using whatever pejorative you like, it is what it is. Have a look at my papers if you like - Tom Wilde, Representation Theory of Finite Groups. All my own, scholarly, original and valuable contributions to human knowledge and what academia is about. If you disagree, post a review on pubpeer or whetever - be my guest.

I asked that persons capable of fairly revieiwing Cofnas's published papers be aware that there may be issues with the same and reminded them that if they find so, there are nowadays ways of expressing their findings.
People are aware there are issues with his published papers, thank you.

In general, there have been very few ad hominem attacks on Cofnas, unlike the way he characterised Arday as 'retarded' 'another DEI hire' and 'a random black person'.

OP posts:
FrippEnos · 31/08/2026 10:25

But people do that, it comes with the territory of being an academic. For example, I've overseen QQA/QQI procedures for the School of Humanities in two universities and have been involved in external examination and moderation of a number of undergrad and postgrad programmes in the UK and elsewhere.

So is this a case of just a few bad eggs slipping through the cracks?
Or is it as some have suggested highlighting an issue within academia?
It seems to me that instead of pushing to actually see if this is an issue within academia that those institutions are trying to push the issue away.

We need our highest institutions to be transparent about what they are and the people that they are supporting.

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