Was Jason Arday just the perfect victim?

[KellyK2026]

Surely I can’t be the only one that feels like Jason Arday was a victim, right? Yesterday he was found dead and I feel bad for him. Here’s the reasons why I think he was a victim:

1. It is absolutely insane to me that Cambridge University would appoint him as a Professor when he was in the early stages of his career. It’s practically unheard of. At any university you typically have to earn your dues (which means working as an academic for many years) OR do something truly special, like a Nobel Prize nomination, to be promoted to Professor. I cannot imagine the amount of pressure he had been under to prove himself and likely had a tremendous amount of imposter syndrome. Cambridge let him down.
2. I’ve worked in academia for many years, and let me tell you, academics are under a tremendous amount of pressure to publish. This pressure can compromise quality. Arday isn’t the first nor will he be the last to publish questionable papers.
3. As I’ve worked in academia for years, I’ve experienced academics make racist and sexist remarks first hand. One white academic I worked with got drunk at a work get together and started a rant about how Black people shouldn't be president (this was when Obama was in power), that Obama was a Muslim and interracial relationships were ‘disgusting’. What made this somewhat even worse was that this particular academic wrote about racism in the public sphere, so he profited from writing about Black struggles while harbouring these personal views. There was no repercussions for him, despite presenting himself as something other than what he was.
4. I’ve also been sexually assaulted at a conference by a male academic. No repercussions for him either and he no doubt pretends to be a feminist in his work.
5. I don’t think it’s in doubt that Arday had autism. Now I don’t know how it affected him personally, but, again, that must’ve been extremely difficult and perhaps even blurred what is and isn’t acceptable in higher education.
6. He was also cleared of plagiarism but, again, so many academics have plagiarised ideas and papers, but they haven’t been strung up like Arday has been.

So, long story short, I feel like Cambridge let him down. And I feel like he was targeted because there’s plenty of other examples but they never get called out and nobody cares. It was a witch hunt. But I’d be interested to hear what others have to say on this matter.

Interestingly, Paul Gilroy, one of Britain’s most respected academics, has stood in defence of Arday, as have many others.

Problem is with someone who is so dishonest & manipulative how on earth would you know if the 'good points' were real or not.

He was a victim of the woke Uni which hired him. His wife needs compensation

Perhaps it's unfair but that's how life works. Outlandish stories sell papers. He told outlandish stories.
That's what people will remember, for a few weeks, and then they will move on.
His family are the ones left with the shit.

He was an experienced well established academic who lied on application and presumably tick the little box to say that he was telling the truth before hitting the submit button!

The reason why I’m hesitant to call him a fantasist is because that’s a medical diagnosis and I’m not qualified to give one.

This was part of the story. The other part is that the wokerati took him because he was minority and autistic and tried to serve their ideas through him

People will stand in defence, people will criticise. He's a polarising figure.

I’m not qualified either to call him a fantasist. But he was. Evidence is all there.

Therefore, the fact that he was singled out by the right wing press was absolutely because of his race and to bash Cambridge rather than due to the gravity of his misdemeanor.

Right wing press like the Guardian?
I suspect there was an element of retribution in the press response, after his attempts to use the police to shut down perfectly legitimate enquiry by a serious, reputable journalist.

Well be know he lied, there’s no disagreement there. If he was a fantasist that means he believed his own lies, which is a way would make it even sadder.

I absolutely agree. It is very sad.

I can see why so many women are conned, there are so many on here making fools of themselves trying to paint JA as a victim and taking away any responsibility the man had for his own web of deceit. He was a liar and a conman but just because he was black you all refuse to accept it because you are so desperate to be seen as wonderful humans. Do you honestly believe it is ok to lie and con your way through life if you are black, do you really think there should be different standards for different races and all black people are victims? That because you are black you cannot be held responsible for your own actions? If that is how you think then you really are doing people of colour a disservice.

He also wasn't a victim to a woke University. In part, Cambridge would have appointed him because celebrity status and high profile is good for business. Not woke business...but making cash business. Because unis need cash and appointed lots of random people with somewhat dubious credentials for the status and visibility of it all. But Cambridge won't come under scrutiny- they never do. And white male profs who are dodgy with students or massage their figures will carry on.

It is almost as though Arday was great at mimicry and understanding what it takes to be such an academic i.e. a lot of visibility, a status and followers. In many ways, that is what it takes to make a prof. Does it take a genius - nope. However, in his case - he clearly went too far and was black and thus forgot that in his case, the rules of the game might be different and the system punishes outsiders more than their own.

I agree that he believed what he said. I believe he was seriously mentally ill. And i agree totally that the final place that he worked had a duty of care. They need held to account.

The way the Arday controversy was weaponised, by both unconditional supporters and racist detractors , created a hostile environment for Black academics and damaged trust in UK higher education.

His exact quote: His exact quote: “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.”

Good point, it's going to have such a negative impact.

To all the black people living in the UK right now, you need to read this thread and remember these anonymous posters are people you work with, are your neighbours, your kids go to school with their kids...

Behind it all, this is who they are.

RIP JA

How could he have completed any written work for GCSE, when he could not write his own name?

Absolutely nothing to do with racism.

Well I’m the one who created the Thread and, as you’ll see by my comments, I’ve said repeatedly he lied and exaggerated his achievements. What I’m critical of is the HE taking his claims at face value. I think they were irresponsible. But there is also another side to this, he has been hounded, even after he resigned. He’s not the first academic to be accused of plagiarism but do you know the names of any others? Probably not, because it wasn’t all over the media. It should’ve been dealt with privately and professionally. He also did achieve some impressive things that the media are wanting to paint over, and I truly believe that the media should be presenting a more nuanced story because people are nuanced.

I did a textile GCSE and there were no exams. You were mainly graded on the product you made and drawings you did in your portfolio. Students with additional needs do get extra support which, for Arday, would’ve been support with writing. Like I said, not much writing involved though. A few lines to describe a design at best, so Arday could’ve easily voiced what he wanted wiring down.

yep. I'm a sinilar age to him and PE GCSE was 50/50 practical and academic, the exams were some of the harder ones I sat as their scope was so broad - Anatomy, Physiology and biomechanics; sports history/politics; some old fiction book about Rugby school, and other stuff I've blanked from my memory.

it was to do with his falseness. I genuinely hope he rests in peace!

Sorry im sounding unsympathetic