London, United Kingdom – Tens of thousands of mourners dressed in black have filled London’s Trafalgar Square, with many carrying flowers for a vigil for Jason Arday, a former Cambridge University professor who died amid weeks of media scrutiny over claims of plagiarism.
The 41-year-old academic, who was the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history, was found dead at his home in south London on Friday, with many at Monday’s vigil blaming relentless and “racist” media coverage for his death.
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Arday, who was diagnosed with autism as a child, had denied the allegations against him.
Mourners on Monday carried signs that read, “Rest in power Professor Jason Arday”, “Stop racist media now” and “Racism within mainstream media is responsible for Jason Arday’s death”.
The gathering was, as one man at the vigil put it, “a gathering of grief and of grievance”.
“Myself and many other people felt quite compelled to be here to show respect to Professor Arday and his family,” said Paul Vincent, a social worker. “But also to come together in a sense of solidarity, to say that we are deeply disturbed. Something dark has happened that we’re not happy with.”
He added that the case had become fodder for ideological point-scoring.
“Sadly, the issues attached to the tragedy are juicy issues, for lack of a better term, for the right and the far right. It ticks all of their boxes.”
‘Racist feeding frenzy’
The controversy centred on allegations that Arday had plagiarised parts of his 2015 doctoral thesis and embellished details of his personal biography. Arday resigned from his post at Cambridge on August 5, saying the “relentless accusations” had taken a “profound toll” on him and his family.
Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded his doctorate, said it had cleared him of plagiarism, but Cambridge – which initially dismissed the allegations as a “vile campaign” to undermine Arday’s credibility – later opened a review of his appointment amid the continuing controversy.
He was found dead two weeks later, with Metropolitan Police saying the death was being treated as “unexpected” but that it was “not believed to be suspicious”. The cause has not been made public.
Cambridge Chancellor Chris Smith, Lord Smith of Finsbury, condemned what he called a “racist feeding frenzy” in a statement issued after Arday’s death.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for a public inquiry into the media’s conduct, started by the Good Law Project, had gathered more than 96,000 signatures by Monday. It argued that Arday’s “tragic death was the direct, foreseeable and foreseen result of press harassment,” and that “a significant element in that harassment was the colour of his skin”.
The petition pointed to other academics who it said had faced comparatively little scrutiny over similar allegations. This included George Holmes, a university vice chancellor implicated in a fraud inquiry, and William O’Reilly, a Cambridge professor accused of plagiarising student essays. The petition noted that both men are white.
According to NewsCord, a media analysis organisation, some 249 articles about Arday were published in media in the United Kingdom in the 22 days before his death, with 188 appearing in the final nine days after his resignation.
Organisers at Monday’s vigil had asked attendees not to speak with reporters, and the mood towards the media was hostile throughout the evening.
Patricia Cohen, who was at the vigil holding a yellow rose and a placard, said she had stopped reading coverage of the case weeks earlier, calling it “biased”.
“I knew they were just damning and unfair,” she said. “If he did do something wrong, it didn’t warrant the abuse, the torment that he was getting.”
She questioned whether journalists would face any consequences for how they had covered the story. “Are we going to start penalising the journalists? Are they going to be monitored better? Because the way that they hound people, especially people of colour – it’s hard to describe.”
‘We let him down’
Liz Combe, who came to the vigil with friends, said the case felt personal.
“I’m here because Jason could have been my son,” she said. “He was in the prime of his life, doing something for the Black community, showing up for us, in his greatness, and then to be torn down, just because of racism.”
The vigil drew several prominent Black British public figures, including politicians Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler, filmmaker Misan Harriman, and singer Beverley Knight.
Abbott, the first Black woman elected to the UK Parliament, told the crowd she had seen Arday a week before his death. “He was always a lovely, kind, and brilliant man”, she said, “but the vicious campaign against him was beginning to get to him”.
She said she believed that “the vicious media campaign drove him to his death”.
Butler apologised on behalf of those who had failed to protect Arday.
“We let him down, and I’m sorry to his family; we couldn’t protect him,” she said. “This isn’t a Black versus white battle; it’s a battle between good and evil, between racists and antiracists.”
Knight, the singer, described watching the coverage unfold.
“We saw it unfurling in front of our eyes – the destruction of a brilliant man, for sport, ignited by jealousy and fuelled by hatred,” she said, looking out over the crowd, estimated at 30,000 by organisers. “When I look around now, I see an ocean of unity, togetherness, and solidarity.”
Several weeks before Arday’s death, Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre, had publicly warned that one in four autistic people have planned or attempted suicide, and spoke of the “relentless bullying of a vulnerable autistic man,” raising concerns about his welfare.
Arday’s family did not attend the vigil.
A statement from them was read by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the family’s member of Parliament.
“The past days have been an incredibly painful time,” the family said, thanking those who had shown “kindness, generosity, and solidarity”.
They described Arday as “a selfless and gentle soul who tirelessly uplifted others through his words and actions”, adding that “the public cruelty Jason was subjected to was too much for any man to bear”.
The statement closed with words the family said were Arday’s own: “Every human life has a purpose. Imagine what might happen if we were all united in the just cause of valuing all human beings equally. Then maybe, just maybe, all kinds of great things might be possible.”
If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, these organisations may be able to help.
