Nathan Cofnas said on Thursday that Ghent University had suspended him and placed him under investigation for discrimination, a move he said would likely end with his dismissal. He wrote on X that he had been suspended and added, “They will almost certainly fire me.”
The university said it had suspended Cofnas “as a precautionary measure” while a preliminary disciplinary investigation proceeds. It said it could not comment further “to safeguard the confidentiality of the personnel file and the disciplinary proceedings.” Cofnas also said he was under investigation by his university for discriminating against Arday.
The case is tied to Cofnas’ plagiarism concerns about Jason Arday, the academic whose death in London last Friday at 41 drew wide attention after he resigned from his post days earlier. Arday had denied the allegation of plagiarism but acknowledged making mistakes, and the dispute had already spread far beyond the university setting by the time Cofnas disclosed his suspension.
That wider attention matters because the plagiarism allegations against Arday drew huge media coverage, and Arday had been hailed as Cambridge’s youngest Black professor. On Monday, thousands attended a vigil in central London to commemorate him, while British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called his death “a tragedy on so many levels.”
Cofnas is now in the uneasy position of insisting he is not a racist while facing a university investigation for discrimination over the same dispute. He wrote on his Substack page on July 21 that he had been contacted by a source at Cambridge University about accusations of plagiarism concerning Arday, but the university has not explained what specific conduct triggered its discrimination probe. The unanswered question is whether Ghent University will move from suspension to dismissal, or whether the preliminary case will narrow the issue before any final decision is taken.
