Good Law Project and Jason Arday

[Slightyamusedandsilly]

I appreciate this is a Marmite issue. But if you think the media's role in this poor man's death was unacceptable, would you sign this petition please? (I'm not the media, I'm just one regular MN user who finds this whole debacle disgusting.)

I understand not everyone sees this perspective.

https://surl.li/wfmdak

Sorry, but your previous post was pretty clear that you think academics should be able to cause major harm to the lives of others (e.g. ruining someone's PhD) without consequence.

Jason Arday is an unfortunate and extreme example, because of the extent of the lies and attention, but posts like your first one demonstrate that universities are giving too much support to the wrong people and that's a significant part of the reason for the backlash.

They made his appointment worldwide news. He was featured on numerous international news channels including Good Morning America and his head of department heralded him as 'the best in the world' when allegedly, she had not read any of his work.

Other Cambridge academics who questioned his work and credentials were shut down. Arday even wrote and published an article about a colleague and her 'racist microaggressions'.

This has been going on for years. Not because of racism but because trying to expose him were continually accused of being racists.

When Times Higher Education wanted to run an article he set a highly combative law firm on them which shut it down temporarily but also caused suspicion as 'what's he trying to hide?' which when The Guardian started to dig was well, a lot.

Then when questioned by them he alleged serious racist attacks and threats which could not be substantiated.

Arday and his college at Cambridge made it news.

Hmm so it doesn't matter if an academic is incapable and unqualified and you shouldn't question their appointment or get rid of them as a result of that because "nobody dies" (actually I doubt that - I'm sure people make decisions that rely on the accuracy of academic work). And it's fine to promote someone because they're female or a minority and for no other reason.

I think some budget cuts are overdue...

No one has ever died due to academic misconduct, plagiarism, or a poor student experience

I’m not sure this is true, off the top of my head - remember the ‘amyloid hypothesis’ scandal which set back Alzheimer’s research decades because of falsified evidence in published research? I’m sure there are other, better examples.

I think universities in general, like Cambridge and the Russell group university I am employed at, need to do more to protect the wellbeing of our staff from public criticism and attacks.

i don’t think any of us know the facts but agree are responsible for protecting the wellbeing of staff. But academics have to be open to public criticism, just like any other profession, sorry, you can’t just allow malpractice to be swept under the carpet.

“No one has ever died due to academic misconduct” well the research falsely linking autism and MMR is a good example of this statement being very, very wrong.

Same here.
What the actual fuck.

This is so insulting to all black academics who have rightly earned their places through meeting rigorous standards. This includes one of my family members who has worked so hard to have her contributions recognised.
Maybe consider how your rhetoric, repeated by many people, actually impacts on black people. The racism is off the charts.

Bang on.
In my street the only children going to university are in order, black, black, Sri Lankan, black, black, and my next door neighbours are Indian, too young for Uni yet but undoubtedly will be going to Uni.
Beautiful kids, beautiful families and they don’t need white saviour DEI bollocks like the Arday farce screwing up things.

He wasn’t a husband.