“In light of the focus on this troubling case [Jason Arday scandal] and the widespread commentary around it, I want to be very clear that we do not need the outcomes of an investigation to clearly and loudly affirm that our staff of colour are highly valued, for their scholarship, their achievements, and the contributions they make to the institution and the wider academic community. This particular case is an aberration and should not be used to cast aspersions on their work or the legitimacy of their roles at Cambridge.”
—-Cambridge University Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice, sounding stupid and making it clear that the investigation Cambridge announced it will be undertaking will be butt-covering exercise and that nothing it uncovers will dissuade the university from its education integrity destruction due to ideological commitment to DEI above all else.
You can read her whole letter here.
She just couldn’t do it! She just couldn’t say that the Jason Arday appointment was a profound embarrassment for Cambridge and obviously represents a breakdown in the University’s standards, values, evaluation and recruitment procedures as well as administration and oversight of faculty, and that serious reforms need to be instituted and will be instituted once an investigation uncovers all the elements of the humiliation for the school the Arday episode represents.
Yeah, we know your “staff of colour” are highly valued, because they are badges of virtue to the DEI cult the educational community has become, symbolizing Cambridge’s conformity, loyalty and commitment. That’s how a sociopathic fraud like Jason Arday got his position in the first place.
The Arday mess is not an “aberration.” It is signature significance. No competent and respectable institution of higher learning hires a faculty member like Jason Arday even once. Eric Rasmussen collected the names and published the bios of the eleven distinguished scholars, professors and administrators who thought hiring Arday would be a boon to Cambridge. They couldn’t have checked his credentials. They didn’t think carefully about his claims which were absurd on their face. They allowed him to be hired because he was “of colour,” and that was what mattered. They should all be fired, but Prentice’s letter proves that 1) that won’t happen and 2) Cambridge’s cultural and ethics rot goes far deeper than just those directly involved.
X-user “Smirkly” posted the most extensive list of the flaming, pulsating red flags in Arday’s claims and performance, and it is impressive:
Ethics Alarms 
The list left off the time where Arday got the police to tell a journalist not to contact him again because it was affecting his mental health. It’s interesting to see the Left support weaponizing the police.
Despite his fanciful tales, Jason Arday is the least interesting part of this story. What people really want to know about is how so many people heard his story and found it believable. It’s like the world of higher education saw some corporations (Bud Light, for example) destroy their brands and took it as a challenge to do the same.
Having served on several faculty and administrator search committees, it is clear many dropped the ball hiring Arday. He would not have made it to the initial virtual interview stage at our small liberal arts college. The only way someone of his caliber could be hired is if certain biases were primary, superseding all other academic requirements. How very sad for Cambridge to allow itself to put itself in this humiliating position.
They aren’t the only ones. How did Claudine Gay become President of Harvard with a dissertation and 7 peer reviewed articles? When you add the fact that the dissertation and articles were all plagiarized and everyone knew it, you understand what qualifications the schools are looking for.
Is Arday a “sociopathic fraud” or is he simply a cynical con artist exploiting race to his advantage to land a job? I suspect that he rode the wave of adulation, collected tons of cash and prestige, and threatened anyone with charges of racism for questioning his qualifications. He is, in other words, a race huckster a la Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, PBUTH, Tawana Brawley, and our local race-baiter, Quanell Ralph Evans AKA Quannell X.
jvb
The American Dream at work – get an education, get an extra vowel added to your dignity.
This guy’s list of “accomplishments” makes those of “the most interesting man in the world” pale in comparison. (for the uninitiated, this is a TV spokesperson for Dos Equis beer who claims ridiculous exploits)
Maybe we should title him “most prolific liar in the world”.
Perhaps the Cambridge administration is looking to short-circuit the obvious results of a reasonably run investigation: most, or at least many, of the remaining “faculty of colour” will be found to be riding on credentials with similar shortcomings as found in “professor” Arday’s pedigree.
This may not be their first efforts at “woke”, just the first one exposed. It could be like the lawyer who makes a plea based on what he called “my client’s first offense”, only to be corrected by a seasoned judge who suggested he should maybe say “first arrest”.