{
  "id": 2215837,
  "title": "Academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism suspended by university",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/academic-who-accused-jason-arday-of-plagiarism-suspended-by-university-2215837",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-20T19:45:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/academic-who-accused-jason-arday-of-plagiarism-suspended-by-university/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nathan Cofnas, a Ghent University postdoctoral researcher who identifies as a \"race realist,\" has been suspended from his position at the Belgian university following a plagiarism dispute involving the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday. The controversy arose prior to Arday's death on August 14th. Cofnas alleged that Arday's work contained passages lifted with minimal editing, sometimes retaining copy-editing mistakes from the original source. He also raised concerns about Arday's claims of running extensive marathons and charity events. Arday, who was Cambridge's youngest black professor in 2023, was found dead in London shortly after resigning from his professorship. Ghent University stated they took the allegations seriously and initiated a disciplinary investigation, suspending Cofnas as a precaution. The university emphasized its commitment to respect for human dignity and its opposition to discrimination, hatred, and racism.",
  "summary": "An academic who accused the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday of plagiarism has been suspended from his post at a Belgian university. Nathan Cofnas, a self-defined \"race realist\", was among those to question Arday's work and achievements - prompting a weeks-long plagiarism row prior to his death on 14 August. Cofnas said he was under investigation by Ghent University \"for discriminating…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "KahawaTungu",
        "title": "Academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism suspended by university",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/academic-who-accused-jason-arday-of-plagiarism-suspended-by-university-2215097",
        "published": "2026-08-20T19:59:22.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}