The Jason Arday scandal

[Ilikesundays]

To think that Cambridge University’s reputation has been shot to pieces by the revelations about ex-professor Jason Arday?

They were born into super rich families.

Yes, to a degree.

I wonder if there will be comeback from Arday's past and present students. Maybe they will capitalise on the biggest of his lessons on how to cheat the system. Not happy with some grades? Get the old sob story out and ask for work to be regarded.

And you're aware that is a tactic that Jason Arday used to avoid scrutiny? And not just any law firm but the one which probably has the reputation for being the most aggressive in the UK, and whose basic USP is being used by the rich and powerful to shut down scrutiny of their behaviour?

There has been talk about some students wanting grades changed due to having received inadequate teaching and supervision from him.

What an absolute shambles.

Says the Daily Telegraph 😂

Most members of the public feel like they are being scolded for something wich wasn't their fault. A minority of wealthy aristocrats participated in this back in the 17th/18th century. The majority of UK's ancestors were peasants or working in mills, mines and factories. Let alone the actual Africans who rounded up other Africans to sell to the European slave traders. Or do you think they were innocent? Can we have the names of the African tribes or chiefs who participated in the human trafficking? I've got one name: Benin. African slave traders.

Says the THE who received the letter telling them to stop investigating Arday.

But I get the impression you don't really care about the lawfare used, you've chosen your side and will deny or ridicule any evidence you're shown

Yep.

¿Que?

I agree it is the powerful that do this - these academic professors have used this tactic.

You will see that the links, that I shared earlier, about the history professor's plagiarism involved him putting his lawyers onto student journalists.

Regarding Arday. Priyamvada Gopal, professor of postcolonial studies at Cambridge has said that any investigation should review "whether the university was involved in any way or any level with efforts to deter journalists from reporting on the allegations".

Yes, I thought the same thing when I read his story as I am a teacher and have had training in literacy support for non-verbal or verbally delayed students. Non-verbal children don't just go from silence, to 'suddenly' speaking at 11. It is usually a gradual process that requires signficant support and intervention, as well as parents advocating on behalf of the child to get the right support. The way the media told the story, at least, made it seem as if Arday just needed someone to 'believe in him', which is bollocks. Supporting autistic chlidren to achieve their full potential requires years of work from many people and services, not just one special person who 'believes' in the child's potential. That's straight out of a Hollywood film script, not real life. But it seems like most of Arday's stories are closer to a film script than real life and are a product of his admittedly impressive imagination.

Please tell me how you gain your insights into how ‘most members of the public feel’.

Well, it wasn’t just the aristocracy for sure. An awful lot of self-made men did well out of slavery. But in any case the responsibility lies not solely with individuals but with the state and with the structures that existed at the time and some of which are perpetuated today.

It’s clearly a challenging subject for you. I can thoroughly recommend you read Paul Gilroy, which should help.

The point is that the white, middle class guilt about "colonialism" being promoted in our institutions was very much part of their decision to appoint him along with the disabled angle. I actually have a son who is both mentally and physically disabled and this is an insult. He has schizophrenia and threw himself off a building during a psychotic episode and walks on crutches. But it's not a fashionable illness which the liberati would not touch with a bargepole.

Who’s most? I don’t feel like that at all.

I guess I don’t really understand why some people take conversation around colonialism as personal criticism. Why does it make you so defensive?

I have a degree in Art History. Thanks all the same.

And there’s a lot more to colonialism than the slave trade. The colonisation of India, Africa America, Australia, NZ etc for a start… The colonisers were most certainly not all aristocrats, quite the opposite.

If you feel scolded for something that happened long before you were born that's a you problem.

It's common knowledge that the Benin were slavers, the British and Portugese supplied them with the bronze manillas in exchange for slaves ... l'm not sure what your point is here?

Nasty stuff happened in the past, pretending it didn't serves no-one.

Wouldn’t you want to know if the painting in front of you was looted from a Jewish family by the Nazis? Or that the Greeks want their marbles back?

What has all the museum, Trump, art and colonization got to do with JA being a top bullshitter again?

Don’t recall how we got onto museums, but Trump is a fellow bullshitter.

Gosh, it's incredible that you have inside knowledge on how the university board arrived at their decision.

I am very sorry to hear about your son - that sounds really tough.

My son is autistic and believe me, there is nothing fashionable about it. He is currently struggling to get a job as a cleaner, despite having achieved highly at school and university.

Because white middle class liberals want to "decolonise" universities and other institutions.