Lagos: A Nigerian investigative journalist and researcher, David Hundeyin, has made a series of claims about the University of Cambridge following the death of British-born Ghanaian professor Jason Arday. Arday, who passed away at the age of 41, was found unresponsive at a property in Battersea, south London, on August 14. His death was unexpected but is not being treated as suspicious by the police.
According to Ghana Web, Arday's death came shortly after he resigned from Cambridge amidst intense scrutiny over allegations of plagiarism and questions regarding his academic and personal history. Although Arday denied the plagiarism allegations, he admitted to errors in his earlier academic work. Hundeyin took to social media to compare his experience at Cambridge to Arday's, accusing the university of distancing itself from controversies it allegedly enabled.
Hundeyin claimed that Arday was "cleared" of all plagiarism allegations before his resignation, stating that his doctoral dissertation, reviewed by Liverpool John Moores University, found only a single sentence misattributed in a 146,000-word thesis. However, the controversy surrounding Arday went beyond this single claim, with questions about passages in his thesis and his academic background and achievements.
Cambridge initially defended Arday after an earlier investigation but later launched a review of his appointment following renewed scrutiny. Hundeyin's assertion that Arday was 'cleared' should be understood as his characterization of the earlier review rather than a blanket finding dismissing subsequent concerns.
Hundeyin also recounted his own experience with Cambridge in 2023, stating that the university failed to publicly support him when he faced allegations about comments made at a book launch. Instead, he received a letter from the Management Committee of Cambridge's Centre of African Studies, asking him to 'use my affiliation sparingly' and work off-site where feasible.
Hundeyin speculated that similar private pressures may have been exerted on Arday during his controversy, possibly influencing his decision to resign. However, there is no publicly established evidence that Cambridge pressured Arday to resign or that such pressure caused his departure.
Arday resigned on August 5, 2026, citing the scrutiny surrounding him as an 'unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack.' He mentioned that the experience had taken a profound toll on him and those close to him. Hundeyin described Arday as a 'vulnerable autistic Black man,' alleging that the scrutiny was a form of racial targeting by the university, and reflected a broader pattern of racist behavior in Britain.
Arday made history in 2023 when, at age 37, he became Cambridge's youngest Black professor, a significant milestone for racial representation in British academia.