Academics turn on Cambridge for appointing Jason Arday as youngest ever black professor and demand probe into what 'went very wrong'

Cambridge academics have turned on their own bosses, claiming the appointment of the university's youngest-ever black professor, Jason Arday, went 'very badly wrong' and that university leaders must take the blame.Arday, who was accused of plagiarism and fabricating parts of his CV, quit his high-profile role on Wednesday after the university launched an internal investigation.He was appointed Professor of Sociology of Education in 2023, aged just 37, and became the university's poster boy for diversity as its youngest-ever black professor.But he has now left Cambridge after being accused of plagiarism, misrepresenting research and inventing parts of his biography.Sociology students supervised by Arday allegedly complained about his care and conduct, only to be told they were being racist by administrators, according to critics of the university's handling of the affair. His lectures were at times said to be much shorter than scheduled, while he was also accused of regularly arriving late.A joint letter now circulating within Cambridge and signed by senior academics there is calling for an independent inquiry into the processes and circumstances that led to Arday being appointed, taking the investigation out of the university's hands.Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies in Cambridge's Faculty of English, is among the academics organising the letter, which demands that any investigation be independent of the university.Professor Gopal, an Indian-born academic, writer and activist, has long campaigned against racism at the institution. She has previously argued that ethnic minority academics and students have faced discrimination.Cambridge announced its investigation on Wednesday, while Jesus College said it was launching a separate process. But Professor Gopal and her fellow academics want any inquiry to include external members and have fully independent status.She said: 'An independent investigation must scrutinise how such an early-career appointment to a very senior and prestigious professorial chair was made, and what both the Faculty of Education and university management may have got very badly wrong.'Whatever the results of any investigation, the university bears no little responsibility for the grotesque racism which this whole business has unleashed, and for the harm done both to the individual in the line of fire, to black academics as a group, and to the broader field of critical race studies.'This requires accountability now from those responsible, not a cover-up.' Professor Jason Arday became Cambridge's youngest black professor in 2023 aged 37 Priyamvada Gopal, professor of postcolonial studies at Cambridge's English faculty, is among the group organising the letter calling for an independent investigation into the appointmentProfessor Gopal also claimed Cambridge had been tempted to 'cut corners on the hard work of fostering equality and inclusion' with a media-friendly appointment.And she said the university should 'pay attention to the consequences of putting young people of colour in highly visible places to carry the burden of representation before they are ready to withstand scrutiny'.Arday quit his role this week after Cambridge launched an investigation into his 'academic qualifications and honorary appointments'.It followed a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis - completed at Liverpool John Moores University - and other research.Further questions were asked about the truth of other claims made by the professor, including saying that he ran 600 miles in six days and that he had raised £5.5million for charity.The Metropolitan Police has drawn criticism in the furore over an investigation into a claim of harassment made against a Times Higher Education journalist who emailed Arday with questions some months ago.Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told LBC yesterday that the force 'dropped the ball on that one' and the report should have been 'screened out earlier as not requiring investigation'.Arday said in his open resignation letter that the 'only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away'.In the letter addressed to colleagues published on the Good Law Project's website, he said: '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. It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.'Arday's memoir, Great And Unfortunate Things, is due to be published by Simon and Schuster next Tuesday in the US and on August 27 in Britain. University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday appears on ITV's This Morning in March 2023The Guardian also revealed that he told them Simon and Schuster had offered '1.4million' for a 'pre-empt' deal, a high early offer for a book before auction. The publisher has not commented on the figure. Education Secretary Lucy Powell and her department have also not commented on the row despite growing criticism of the higher education sector.Two former education secretaries told the Daily Mail that Ms Powell's silence is 'not good enough', as they called on the Government to demand answers from Cambridge.Tory Sir Gavin Williamson warned that, while the scandal was 'deeply humiliating' for Cambridge 'it is clear it was born of a wider rot that has touched all aspects of higher education in this country'.And former Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi branded the Education Secretary's silence 'unconscionable'.There is also growing fury within Cambridge's faculty at the role the university played in facilitating his rise.Douglas Hedley, a professor of the philosophy of religion and fellow at Clare College, told the Mail: 'Presumably when this man was appointed there must have been references for him. Given the paucity of his publications and a mediocre CV, why on earth was this possible?'The only possible explanation is the whole DEI culture. DEI is a Trojan horse that will ultimately destroy the notion of the university... It's really dangerous.'Another Cambridge academic told The Times anonymously that the row has been 'disastrous for Cambridge, and it is disastrous for higher education'.Meanwhile it was revealed yesterday that the head of Arday's former Cambridge faculty claimed that he was appointed after the university 'listened to the voices of our black scholars and our black students'.Professor Hilary Cremin, head of Cambridge's faculty of education, spoke to the BBC just before Arday began his role.