The Chancellor of the University of Cambridge criticized what he described as a "rabid, racist campaign" targeting Jason Ardai, the university professor who died after stepping down from his position due to controversy over accusations of plagiarism.
Ardai, who became the youngest black professor at Cambridge when he was appointed in 2023, had faced weeks of intense media coverage of accusations of plagiarism and questions about his academic achievements. He denied those accusations.
In his first public comment on the case, Lord Chris Smith said it was possible to uphold standards of academic integrity while at the same time questioning the way Ardai was treated.
On Monday, thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to participate in a memorial vigil organized by the anti-racism group Stand Up to Resistance, where Labor Party MP Diane Abbott said that Ardai was subjected to a “fierce and bitter media campaign.”
Abbott said that the attacks by “people who did not believe that a black man had the right to be a professor at Cambridge” began immediately after the university appointed him in 2023.
“This was a campaign against all of us,” she added.
This comes after more than 90,000 people, including Abbott and actress Jameela Jamil, signed a petition launched by the Good Law Project demanding an investigation into media coverage of the Ardai case. The petition says his death came after “two weeks of continuous harassment.”
Lord Smith said, in a statement issued after the death of the university professor: “I believe it is possible to adhere to two principles at the same time: belief in the importance of academic integrity, and ensuring, when accusations of plagiarism are raised against any academic, whoever he is, that they are subjected to a careful and rigorous investigation.”
He added: "At the same time, he refused to engage in a rabid campaign of a racist nature against a specific academic."
Lord Smith's position at the University of Cambridge is largely ceremonial, while responsibility for the day-to-day running of the university falls to Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice.
Smith is a member of the House of Lords, and was previously a Labor MP and Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, and previously headed the British Environment Agency.
The University of Cambridge had initially said that allegations of plagiarism in Ardai's thesis and some of his research published in scientific journals were subject to investigation by Liverpool John Moores University and the relevant journals.
Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded Ardai a doctorate in 2015, concluded that he had not committed plagiarism.
But last week, the University of Cambridge announced the opening of an independent investigation into the circumstances of his appointment.
Ardai, 41, was found dead in the Battersea area in south London on Friday. He resigned from his position as professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge on August 5.
But he stressed that his resignation should not be “construed as acceptance of the narratives raised around me.”
Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister's Office refused to say "at this stage" whether Andy Burnham is considering opening an investigation into Ardai's death, stressing that the current time is "a time for reflection", and that it is appropriate to wait for the completion of "usual procedures", including the coroner's investigation.
The South Inner London Coroner's Court said an inquest will be held to determine Ardai's cause of death, which could take several weeks.
Following the completion of the investigation, and after considering any statements provided by the Ardai family, the coroner will decide whether to open a formal judicial inquest into the death.
Sir James Cleverly said he was outraged by what happened to Ardai, and that university institutions, not just Cambridge, should have “undertaken the rigorous checks and checks that would accompany any high-level academic appointment”.
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, on Monday, the shadow housing minister said he felt Ardai was used by some universities to "boast of their achievements", and that talk about him focused on "his age and ethnic origins rather than his talent".
He added: "I think that was part of the reason why he rose so quickly to such a high position, and then when he started being scrutinized from outside the universities, his reputation had a very long way to go before falling. I think that was not fair to him, and that what happened was a terrible, very terrible situation."
Sir James, who was the first black person to hold the posts of Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary in Britain, said it was "highly possible" that much of the media coverage about Ardai was racially motivated, but added that questions about plagiarism were legitimate, regardless of the motives behind raising them.
In contrast, when Housing Minister Matthew Pennycock was asked whether the press had behaved badly, he repeated the Prime Minister's position that it was not the time to "jump to judgment".
He said: “I do believe that the events leading up to his death raise questions about the duty of care and the nature of media scrutiny in the modern era, but I do not believe that now is the time to engage in a debate about these issues, and I certainly do not intend to sit here and make judgments about them.”
Pennycook added that it is time to reflect and "think with compassion about how we got into this situation, which is a very sad situation."
The head of the NHS Confederation, which signed the letter demanding a public inquiry, said the focus should be on the press, not social media, because “self-regulation has completely failed” in the Ardai case.
Lord Victor Adebowale told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "There were prior warnings that this prosecution could put his life in danger, but those warnings were ignored."
He added: "It is true that we live in a world of social media, where people can say whatever they want and go after others as much as they want. But in this case I point the finger at the press. You have failed."
On Sunday, more than 200 people participated in a memorial vigil in Cambridge organized by researchers who worked with Ardai as a post-doctoral student.
