Inquest Opens Into Death of Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday

A senior coroner has opened an investigation into the death of Jason Arday, a 41 year old former professor at the University of Cambridge. Dr Julian Morris stated at the London Inner South Coroner's Court that he suspects Professor Arday died an unnatural death. Arday was found unresponsive by family members at his home in Battersea, south London, on 14 August. Despite resuscitative efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Metropolitan Police stated that the scene was not suspicious.

Professor Arday had resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education earlier in August. His resignation followed intense scrutiny and accusations of plagiarism brought forward by Nathan Cofnas, an academic who describes himself as a race realist. Arday denied the plagiarism claims, though he admitted to errors in his work and suggested some were due to his autism. An investigation by Liverpool John Moores University previously upheld the decision to award him his PhD.

Center left sources frame the event as a tragedy resulting from a vicious campaign of harassment and racism against a Black academic. These reports highlight a vigil attended by over 30,000 people and a GoFundMe page that raised over 224,000 pounds for his family. Center sources frame the event as a death following a public plagiarism row and a period of unrelenting public scrutiny.

Arday's family has described the situation as a campaign of misinformation and asked for privacy. His memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, is scheduled for release in the UK on Thursday, a decision supported by both the publisher and the family.