Ghent University suspends academic Nathan Cofnas following plagiarism allegations against Jason Arday

Ghent University has suspended Nathan Cofnas, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of philosophy and moral sciences. The suspension follows Cofnas's role in spearheading plagiarism allegations against Jason Arday, a former black professor at Cambridge University. Arday resigned from his position and was later found dead in his home in London. Ghent University stated that it takes Cofnas's recent public statements very seriously and that while it values academic freedom, such freedom is not unlimited and must be balanced with responsibility to protect the rights of others.

Cofnas, an American academic who describes himself as a race realist, has a history of controversy regarding his views on the genetic link between race and intelligence. He previously worked at Cambridge University, where he was dismissed from Emmanuel College in 2024 after claiming that black people would disappear from high profile positions outside of sports and entertainment under a true meritocracy. He has also been criticized for his stance on hereditarianism and his opposition to diversity policies.

In July, Cofnas published an analysis on Substack alleging that Arday's 2015 PhD thesis contained passages lifted from other scholars. Arday denied intentional misconduct, attributing citation errors to inadequate supervision and his autism. Following Arday's death, Ghent University launched an investigation into the statements Cofnas made regarding the late professor's work. Cofnas announced the suspension on X, where he expressed his expectation that he will be fired and attributed the decision to rector Petra De Sutter, a former Green Party leader.