Professor Jason Arday has resigned from the University of Cambridge just hours after it launched a probe into his ‘qualifications and appointments’.
Critics have accused the 41-year-old of copying significant chunks of his PhD thesis from earlier research published by another student, leading him last week to admit to a series of errors in his work.
But he has insisted he is not a ‘liar and fantasist’ after doubts were raised about his seemingly sensational list of personal achievements, which included running 600 miles in six days and raising millions of pounds for charity.
Prof Jason Arday became a poster boy for diversity as the university’s youngest ever black professor, but is now facing questions about both his academic record and a series of dazzling anecdotes from his past.
Announcing he was quitting Cambridge on Wednesday evening, he lashed out at the ‘unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack’.
Prof Arday added: ‘While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement.
‘The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.’
He went on to say: ‘This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge. Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me.
The University of Cambridge is launching a formal investigation into Professor Arday over claims he copied a colleague’s work and lied about his past
Jason Arday became a poster boy for diversity as the university’s youngest black professor, but is now facing questions about his academic record and bizarre claims
‘It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.’
Just hours earlier Cambridge University confirmed it had ‘begun an investigation following new information about Professor Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments’.
‘In order to ensure a fair process, we will not comment further until this has concluded,’ it added.
‘Separately, there remains a number of ongoing complaints regarding academic misconduct, which are being handled in line with our Misconduct in Research policy. This is consistent with our previous statement on the matter.’
Claims about the provenance of his PhD paper were followed by the discoveries of seemingly fanciful boasts about his achievements over the years.
Among the most bizarre was his claim he appeared in the TV series Seven Up, given it was first broadcast two decades before his birth in 1985.
And it was today reported that the professor of sociology of education falsely claimed to have written a book entitled Being Young, Black and Male: Challenging the Dominant Discourse.
It was confirmed the supposed book never hit the shelves and was abandoned by Palgrave Macmillan several years ago.
The publishers accepted his proposal for the book, but it was never made public. Palgrave Macmillan failed to say why.
Prof Arday announced his resignation amid these swirling claims, revealing the ‘profound sadness’ associated with the decision.
He recalled the moment he became the first black professor in the university’s long history and the ‘overwhelming’ response from his fans.
In a clear reference to recent accusations of plagiarism and lying about his past, he criticised the public’s interest in his personal life and backstory.
‘I have tried to continue because I believe deeply in the values of higher education, in rigorous scholarship, and in the transformative power of universities,’ he said.
‘I have tried because of my students, my colleagues and the countless people who have written to tell me that my journey gave them hope.
‘But there comes a point when the personal cost becomes too great.’
He added that he wanted ‘to be present’ for his family and move away from the ‘constant spotlight’.
Prof Arday wrote: ‘For my own wellbeing, for my family, and for those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, I have concluded that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away.’
He also thanked his students and colleagues, as well as those ‘from every corner of the world’ who had supported him across his career.
Prof Arday concluded: ‘This is not the end of my work. It is simply the end of this chapter. I need time to heal. I need time to simply be myself again.
‘And when that time comes, I will return. I will return stronger, wiser and with the same determination that has always defined my journey. There is still so much work to do, and I look forward to doing it alongside so many of you in the years ahead.
‘For now, however, I ask only for understanding, for compassion, and for the space to begin again.’
Cambridge University had been standing stoically behind its flagship professor, previously arguing he is the victim of a ‘vile campaign to undermine his credibility’, but today appeared to change tack.
The university added: ‘While we are fully aware of the public commentary and concerns around this matter, it remains vital that any process is thorough and adheres to both University policies and employment law.
‘We also fully recognise that there is a person at the centre of this situation, and we continue to provide support to him.’
Jesus College confirmed shortly after that it had started its own probe into the professor’s behaviour.
A spokesperson said: ‘Parallel to the University of Cambridge’s investigation into Professor Arday, Jesus College is launching its own process.
‘Professor Arday’s College Fellowship is linked to his University role and we will fully support the University.
‘Professor Arday remains a Fellow during this process. We recognise that this is a very difficult time for him and his family, and ask that they are treated with compassion and respect.’
Support among university staff seemed to be waning after the name of Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu, the president of Wolfson College, Cambridge, disappeared from an open letter supporting him.
Footage has emerged from a talk the professor gave in 2022 in which he claimed to have appeared in the TV series Seven Up (Pictured: The original Seven Up show which aired in 1964)
The letter, started by Left-wing campaign group Good Law Project, accused ‘Right-wing newspapers’ of trying to ‘smear’ Prof Arday with ‘fake accusations of plagiarism’.
Dame Ijeoma had previously been the second-named signatory on the letter, but her name is no longer visible on the open letter’s web page.
She was one of three Cambridge college principals whose name appeared on the letter, which begins: ‘We, the undersigned, are appalled by the sustained and malicious attacks on the academic integrity of Professor Jason Arday.’
Another of the signatories was Lord Woolley, who had listed his job title as principal of Homerton College. But although his name remains on the open letter, his academic role has been removed.
Multiple other universities have distanced themselves from Prof Arday after he claimed to have held academic positions there, including Ohio State University, Durham University and the University of Glasgow.
The Department for Education said that the new Secretary of State, Lucy Powell, would not be intervening in the row.
But Ms Powell was left red-faced after it emerged that her own adviser handed Mr Arday a role at her charity last year.
Special adviser Sarah Waite, appointed this week, said she was ‘thrilled’ to welcome him as a Patron of Get Further, a charity that gives extra tuition to disadvantaged pupils.
In a statement on its website, Ms Waite added: ‘We are delighted to have such an inspiring advocate join us in this important work.’
She founded the charity in 2018, after a period working in the Department for Education’s social mobility team, before returning as a special adviser two days ago.
The Labour Party became further entangled in the row today after it was revealed that Mr Arday stood as a candidate for the party in Croydon. He won 953 votes in the Purley and Woodcote ward of the council in 2018, losing to the Conservatives.
Raised in south London by working-class immigrants from Ghana, the professor said he was diagnosed with autism, dyslexia and ‘global development delay’ at a young age, and was non-verbal until the age of 11.
He has described only learning to read and write at 18, but went on to enrol in a BTech course before studying for a degree in PE and teaching, followed by two Master’s and, ultimately, a PhD from Liverpool John Moores University.
He taught at four universities prior to Cambridge but his elevation to such a high-profile institution sparked scrutiny, which led to allegations of plagiarism in his 2015 PhD thesis last year.
Liverpool John Moores University cleared him of academic misconduct, but there have been calls for a fresh inquiry after critics uncovered scores of ‘plagiarised’ passages in his work.
The Daily Mail last week revealed the professor’s remarkable claim he had been on Seven Up, a landmark show which has followed the lives of the same group of people every seven years from the age of seven since 1964.
Footage from a talk Prof Arday gave in 2022 showed him telling the University of Bath’s Race Equality Taskforce: ‘I was part of a programme which doesn’t really exist any more, but was called Seven Up at the time.
‘Seven Up is basically when they follow you over the duration of your life, so they follow you at seven, 14, 21. I was pulled out of the project when I was 14.’
Seven Up was first broadcast two decades before Professor Arday was born in 1985.
The original 14 participants would have been born in 1956 or 1957. The Seven Up project is scheduled to end this year.
He also would have been too old to have featured in a series launched in 2000 by the BBC – Up Millennium Generation – which followed individuals who were seven years old at the turn of the millennium.
In response to inquiries from the Daily Mail, Professor Arday said that when he talked of ‘Seven Up’, he didn’t mean ‘Seven Up’ the famous TV series, which followed children at seven-year intervals in the format he described. He said that in fact he was referring to ‘a local community and parent-led initiative developed around the Ubuntu principle that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.
‘It was organised by Black women to support Black mothers raising children with complex learning needs.’
He asked that we attribute the quotes to ‘a source close to Professor Arday’.
‘The reference to “Seven Up” was used informally as a shorthand illustration of the concept. It was not intended as a literal comparison and should be understood in the context in which it was made. Attempts to present the phrase in isolation risk creating a misleading impression of both the initiative and Professor Arday’s comments,’ Professor Arday said.
A BBC spokesman on Sunday confirmed Professor Arday had ‘nothing to do with our films’.
