Lens on Cambridge after Black professor’s death amid scrutiny of his credentials

Arday, 41, was found dead at his London home on Friday.

LONDON: The spotlight has now turned to the universities of Cambridge, Durham and Glasgow for allegedly overpromoting Jason Arday, and particularly to Cambridge, as the former professor’s death continues to dominate UK media coverage.Arday, 41, was found dead at his London home on Friday, just over a week after resigning from his post as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge following intense media scrutiny of the integrity of his academic research, qualifications and achievements.Upon resigning, Arday had said: “The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me.”In his forthcoming memoir, Arday had claimed he was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, was unable to speak until he was 11, and was unable to read and write until he was 18. At the age of 37, he became the youngest Black full professor in Cambridge’s history.Before his death, the UK media had carried interviews with Arday’s contemporaries who contested these claims.“The most casual observer could see he was a vulnerable fantasist,” said James Cleverly, the Black shadow communities secretary. “The death of Jason Arday is tragic and makes me so angry. A number of people at a number of academic institutions have serious questions to answer. They put him into positions he was clearly not qualified for so they could have a Black wunderkind to show off. They pushed him into the spotlight for their own benefit.”Dorothy Byrne, former president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, condemned Cambridge, Glasgow and Durham universities for not asking serious questions during his appointment process. While stressing that there is an “important question” over whether journalistic coverage was “excessive”, Byrne told Times Radio: “If those universities had asked the questions and taken action when criticisms were made and questions were raised over several years, I do not believe that we would be where we are today with this terrible event having happened.” She said journalists were in fact asking the questions “which those universities should have asked”.Before his death, all three universities said they were investigating the circumstances surrounding Arday’s appointment.“The system that overpromoted him should have been the target, not him,” wrote Matthew Syed in ‘The Times’.A GoFundMe page set up by Windrush campaigner Sir Patrick Vernon OBE had by Sunday raised almost £100k for Arday’s family and his funeral costs. “There are serious questions for academia, institutions, journalism… about whether sufficient care is shown when somebody is known to be vulnerable,” he said.Lord Woolley, the Black principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, has called for an investigation into the “vicious media onslaught”.A spokesman for Cambridge said Arday was given “the provision of counselling, support and advice, and security measures, including the installation of panic alarms and the screening of racist emails and post. Our support continued in the face of intense public and media scrutiny and after his resignation.”Stand Up to Racism co-convener Weyman Bennett said the witch-hunt targeting Arday had spread “the far-right lie that Black people are only appointed because of the colour of our skin, rather than our ability”.