Cambridge University defends its mental health support for Jason Arday

University says it continued to provide support after resignation of academic, who was found dead on Friday

The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday.

The university said it had continued to provide Arday with extensive mental health support and security measures, including installing panic alarms and screening racist emails and post, after he resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education this month.

He quit after widespread press coverage of accusations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career and achievements.

A University of Cambridge spokesperson said: “Our support continued in the face of intense public and media scrutiny and after his resignation. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Jason’s family and loved ones at this extremely difficult time.”

Arday, 41, was pronounced dead after emergency services were called to his home in Battersea, south London, on Friday.

When he was appointed professor of sociology of education at Cambridge at the age of 37 in 2023, he was the university’s youngest ever black professor.

A vigil in Arday’s memory organised by the campaign group Stand Up to Racism will be held on the steps of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, central London, at 6pm on Monday. The group’s co-convener Weyman Bennett said in a statement that Arday’s death was the “result of a racist witch-hunt”.

He added: “For more than a week, the rightwing press, politicians and the far right have hounded Jason with the most vicious racism. They are spreading the far-right lie that black people are only appointed because of the colour of our skin, rather than our ability.”

Arday was initially accused of plagiarising another academic’s work for his PhD thesis. He denied the accusations, and an investigation by Liverpool John Moores University this year upheld its decision to award him a PhD.

When allegations surfaced in the UK media in July, Cambridge said it had investigated the claims and found no wrongdoing, describing Arday as the victim of a “vile smear campaign to undermine his credibility”.

This month, the university announced it would open a fresh investigation after it said it received “new information” about Arday’s qualifications and career.

Other elements of Arday’s life story were increasingly questioned, including claims of prodigious money-raising for charity and feats of long-distance running. He was also challenged about whether he was nonverbal until the age of 11, as well as being illiterate until 18.

It is understood Cambridge has paused the investigation while Arday’s family are grieving, and will consider whether to reopen it in due course.

Academics and politicians have cast doubt on whether Cambridge took Arday’s vulnerability seriously when he was appointed to the ­senior public-facing role in 2023. At the time, the university had been facing criticism for its lack of diversity in senior roles.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, Arday’s friend and former colleague, told Times Radio he thought the university should proceed with the investigation. “We should see what we learn from it. This is the whole purpose of investigations,” he said.

He also questioned whether the media had failed in its duty of care towards Arday, as a vulnerable person with disabilities. He said Arday faced racist abuse and was used as a “lightning rod for a culture war on [diversity, equity and inclusion]”.

Simon Woolley, the principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, and Arday’s former mentor, has called for an investigation into the “vicious media onslaught”.

In a statement on Saturday, Prof Deborah Prentice, the vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, said her “thoughts and deepest condolences” were with Arday’s family, as well as with colleagues and students in the faculty of education and at Jesus College where he was a fellow.

“Supporting our community through this tragedy is the single most important priority for me and my leadership team right now. We will be reaching out to many of you directly, and we are committed to ensuring that no one feels they must face this alone,” she said.

A fundraiser launched by the Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon on Saturday afternoon has raised more than £65,000 to contribute towards funeral and memorial costs and support for Arday’s family.

On the crowdfunder’s webpage, Vernon said: “I was one of the people who publicly supported Jason during the recent controversy because I was deeply concerned about the nature and intensity of the attacks directed towards him. I was also subject to media scrutiny for signing the letter of support and challenged in supporting Jason.”

Andy Burnham, the prime minister, described Arday’s death as a “tragedy on so many levels” and urged a “moment of reflection”.

In a statement issued via Simon & Schuster, which published Arday’s memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, in the US this week, Arday’s family said they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.

They added: “Jason was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse for more than three years since he accepted the role of professor at Cambridge University by those who would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him. The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone.”