Jason Arday was appointed as professor of sociology of education in 2022. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Jason Arday was appointed as professor of sociology of education in 2022. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian University of Cambridge Cambridge agrees to hold independent inquiry into Jason Arday appointment Vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice says she recognises the ‘difficult case’ has damaged the university
Prefer the Guardian on Google Cambridge University’s leadership has bowed to internal pressure for an independent investigation into its appointment of Jason Arday as a professor, with its vice-chancellor admitting the affair has damaged the institution.
Prof Deborah Prentice said she recognised the “anger and anxiety around this damaging and difficult case” but described it as an aberration that should not be used to cast aspersions on the abilities of its staff of colour.
Senior Cambridge academics had called for the university to hold a fully independent inquiry into the circumstances around Arday’s appointment as professor of sociology of education, after the details of his career and life story were exposed to intense scrutiny.
Read more The university initially defended him as the “victim of a vile campaign to undermine his credibility” but he resigned last week after a series of his claims were called into doubt.
In a letter to staff, Prentice said: “I know there is anger and anxiety around this damaging and difficult case … We will now investigate the circumstances around his appointment by the faculty of education back in 2022 and his time here in Cambridge since his appointment nearly four years ago.
“That investigation, as you say, should be thorough and transparent, and will be carried out independently by senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge.”
The university did not supply any details of the investigation’s membership or its terms of reference.
Prentice said the investigation’s findings would be used to review Cambridge’s appointment process for senior roles, and that its education faculty bore some responsibility for Arday’s selection. She also highlighted that Arday had held positions at Durham and Glasgow universities before applying to Cambridge for a professorial chair.
Read more “As you are fully aware, appointments to senior academic roles, as in the case of the faculty of education and Jason Arday, are currently led at department level,” she said. “I note that Durham and Glasgow universities have announced that they are also investigating the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Jason Arday to academic posts there.”
However, academics at Cambridge said Prentice’s description of the appointment process was “nonsensical”, and Arday’s appointment had been made by a separate board of electors chaired by a representative of the university’s leadership.
While Glasgow has announced its own investigation into Arday’s selection, Durham University declined to endorse Prentice’s comments.
A spokesperson for Durham said: “Since the recent emergence of questions relating to the circumstances surrounding Jason Arday’s appointment to a chair at Cambridge University, we have looked into his appointment to a junior academic role at Durham in 2019. He was appointed following a standard, competitive recruitment process in which he met published criteria for the role.
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