Jason Arday found dead today.

O’Reilly

Sorry about that

Professional academic instances of plagiarism of course is far more serious and should be investigated and the appropriate sanctions taken.

Dr William O'Reilly was found gustily of plagiarism by Cambridge University but he stayed in post.

Thank you. Could you please confirm and make clear that you are posting about Dr William Riley of Cambridge University in Great Britain and none other because these are serious accusations/incidents.

Lathyrus3

Plagiarism in students may be “widespread “ particularly in the first year when they are still learning. They have to be put right.

Plagiarism at Professor level is very different.

Roughly 2.9% of professional academic researchers admit to instances of plagiarism. The actual percentage will be higher as a result of professional academic researchers who do not admit instances of plagiarism.

Lathyrus3

There is more than one Dr William O’Reilly, Lemonjam and although those in academia may be familiar with his case I think you ought to be more explicit about which one you are referring to.when you attach such information to a name.

It’s easy for a name to be latched onto on social media and used wrongly.

I see that the person I think you are referring to has lodged allegations that those who investigated his work were homophobic and that this influenced his treatment and the outcome.

greyfur16 suggested taking a look at Dr William O'Reilly at 14.46 so I did.

My post referred to the Dr William O'Reilly who was a don, a senior Tutor and in charge of student welfare that organised panels to investigate student rape claims in his student welfare role. He was accused and found guilty of plagiarising as reported in the Guardian newspaper. I also posted about his threats to theVarsity newspaper which an independent newspaper for Cambridge University.

Please feel free to provide detail of any other Dr William O'Reilly to whom you refer.

Plagiarism in students may be “widespread “ particularly in the first year when they are still learning. They have to be put right.

Plagiarism at Professor level is very different.

There is more than one Dr William O’Reilly, Lemonjam and although those in academia may be familiar with his case I think you ought to be more explicit about which one you are referring to.when you attach such information to a name.

It’s easy for a name to be latched onto on social media and used wrongly.

I see that the person I think you are referring to has lodged allegations that those who investigated his work were homophobic and that this influenced his treatment and the outcome.

Students are claiming that when they raised concerns they were accused of racism.

The salt path couple were a white couple.
Nick leesom was white.
Rachel dolezal was white ( claiming to be black)
Johan hari was white.
All subject to public scrutiny and media attention for inventing various stories.

Oreo

Maybe those white academics didn’t invent a whole raft of other claims? Or do interviews or write a book featuring all the claims?

O'Reilly invented a whole raft of things. Perhaps the most distasteful was supporting a male student alleged to have raped a female student in one of his 'investigation panel' hearings. All very unsavoury.

As posted earlier- plagiarism is a widespread issue in higher education.

It was the students that raised O'Reilly's plagiarism claims by way of a freedom of information request- then took their concerns to the University in the usual way.

A finding of plagiarism by the University tribunal was upheld and reported by the Guardian in a straight forward way. But there was no relentless scrutiny or interest in all of his other salubrious activities, his health, his personal life, his lies, his threats to Varsity to try and stop publication etc. Neither was there any interest in finding witnesses from the 210 students who had sent a letter complaining about his conduct sought in the same way was applied to Arday.

Just very different.

I think so too greyfur16- Mumsnet posters linked the difference in treatment of Dr William O'Reilly (white) in comparison to Arday.

O'Reilly was a don, a senior Tutor and in charge of student welfare.

In 2015 he self published a sexually charged novel about academics watching students having sex, under a pseudonym.

At one stage he appointed other dons to form panels to 'investigate student rape claims' (Isn't that the job of the police for goodness sake) and various concerns were raised about his conduct. 210 students signed a letter criticising the history faculty for failing to investigate O'Reilly's conduct. He finally stepped down in February 2020 and simply went to work at another university.

In 2023 he was accused of earlier plagiarism, lifting almost word for word from two essays of 2 of his students publishing under his own name. He resorted to legal threats to Varsity to try and stop publication. The university upheld plagiarism but he stayed in post.

Treated very differently by the British press.

Two of my colleagues applied to be professors. Both were academics who had worked at the university in question for some years previously, not new applicants from outside. In both cases the appointment process took about six months, and went through various committees.

Both were in the late 40s-50s age range. Age is significant in terms of establishing the necessary reputation for international scholarship, academic publication and ability to bring in research funding. It is difficult (to me) to understand how anyone in their 30s could have achieved this. It can take a year or more to get one article published in a peer reviewed journal.

That’s the ‘problem’ with the truth, it always comes out eventually.

Maybe those white academics didn’t invent a whole raft of other claims? Or do interviews or write a book featuring all the claims?

But racism is one of the things that led to his death

Take a look at Dr William O' Reilly if unconvinced.

Seeking the truth on plagiarism can be determined by the means of appropriate academic investigation.

Other white academics have similarly been accused of plagiarism- though not by a self described 'race realist' such as Nathan Cafnas. It is clear that those white academics were treated much differently than Jason Arday.

LemonJam Nobody can be blamed for seeking the truth.
This ‘race realist’ brought forward claims of plagiarism, The Guardian uncovered a lot of other dubious claims by Arday.
I think the journalists would have uncovered dubious claims by any Cambridge professor no matter what their colour.

Truth matters- the whole truth. Fairness matters- fair to all. Public interest matters. A person’s right to privacy and dignity in their personal life matters during a Public interest journalist enquiry.

Some matters perhaps to take into consideration- though not an exhaustive list- to help determine the full facts and truth:

1) Context- Plagiarism is a widespread issue in higher education with self-reported surveys indicating that roughly 20% to 60% of university students admit to committing some form of plagiarism or academic dishonesty during their studies. Roughly 2.9% of professional academic researchers admit to instances of plagiarism.
2) Its notable that accusations of plagiarism against Arday were started Nathan Cofnas, a self described 'race realist'. a US researcher whose own role at a Cambridge college was terminated after backlash to his view that under a true meritocracy black people would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment
3) Cofnas chose not to share his allegations directly with the educational establishment but instead went to social media and then sold his story to right wing main stream media. This is a man whose believes all black people should disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment. However Cafnas has had little to no mention or scrutiny by the British right wing Press.
4) The British press has treated Arday as a symbol of alleged DEI excess and framed Arday as a diversity poster boy.
5) Their reporting of Arday was disproportionate compared to similar cases involving white academics accused of plagiarism whose transgressions rarely attract national attention and also are not conflated to other white academics
6) An example- the case of Julian Young (who, as far as I am aware, is white). With Young, the Press made no attempt to scour everything he had ever written or question every public statement he had ever made, to seek to make him look like a liar. He was rightly held to account, explained his errors and made corrections, and then everyone moved on.
7) In contrast the British Press pursued, interrogated, sought witnesses, reported and listed every inconsistency of all areas of Arday's life - some were not verifiable- some could not be verified and some witness statements were inconsistent. Every inconsistency was framed as confirmation of a broader picture of deceit to support plagiarism allegations.
8) As this accelerated the press interviewed Arday and his own words revealed his psychological strain and vulnerability and the stress he felt under. He resigned saying he needed 'time to heal' Arday accepted criticism and investigation, though denied plagiarism and felt that the scrutiny had gone beyond scholarly boundaries.
9) Arday specifically denied Cafnas's claims and the investigation outcomes are not yet available - correct me if I am wrong
10) Cambridge University used Arday's biography as a public relations exercise and relished if not encouraged media attention on Arday
11) Andy's health status and history- his autism, stroke and brain tumour questioned by many.
12) The Cambridge University recruitment and selection process- the Vice chancellor has now acknowledged the appointment process was flawed and there is a pattern of organisational self protection.

Academic scrutiny is vital, important and needs to take its course. Appropriate sanctions to follow if evidenced.

What a sad and tragic ending. How sad for the family and loved ones to have lost Arday.

Foxie48 13.35- I agree 👏

Oreo 13.42. I do agree truth does matter- to be applied to all the players in this sorry incident, including Cafnas, The University and journalists. It is definitely not the case that only Arday and C Uni brought this about. It was Brough about by the claims made by Nathan Cafnas- a self described 'race realist. His claims have not yet been proven as far as I am aware by an appropriate academic investigation process.

Oreo 13.55. I agree journalists play and vital and important role in investigating matters in the public interest If a journalist/newspaper decides to relentlessly scrutinise all aspects of a black academic's life as a result of a plagiarism claim they should similarly relentlessly scrutinise all aspects of a white academic's life as result of a plagiarism claim. if such relentless scrutiny is considered appropriate.

friendlygingercat Sat 15-Aug-26 13:19:43

A good summing up.

Race should not enter into the recruitment process for such appointments, indeed any appointments, neither positive nor negative discrimination should apply at all.

In the case I remember from very many years ago, where someone was appointed with fabricated qualifications and due diligence was not applied, there was direct impact on both colleagues and the children this person worked with.
The case was publicised but not so widely and, of course, there was no social media in the 1970s. The person was relieved of their position but, surprisingly, went on to a different type of position elsewhere but in the same area.
That person was eccentric but plausible and had, I think, charisma.

I feel sorry for Arday's wife and family.

nanna8

Sadly the man is dead and I can’t see the point of all the nasty comments and accusations. Clearly he was not a well man and was suffering a lot of emotional stress. I really wish the usual comments about racism would cease, they are disrespectful and not helpful.

But racism is one of the things that led to his death. The man who made the original complaint re plagiarism seems to be racist. I do feel that an attempt by academia to show themselves ‘not’ to be racist resulted in him being overly promoted. But I must admit that I knew nothing of the whole situation till I heard of his death on the news last night and my view of the whole unfortunate incident is just a gut reaction to what I found out by googling last night. As is always being said these days ‘lessons need to be learned’.

In this case there were claims of plagiarism. exaggerated personal narrative and career embellishment, as well as flaws in the appointment process. The controversy became entangled with debates about DEI, representation, and race, which intensified scrutiny and polarised academic opinion.

I agree with this - there are undoubtedly matters for the university to examine. That is not in question. But the situation where this man became the fall-guy for faults in the system is not.

The media should rightly be criticised for the mindset that seeks only sales and clicks rather than balanced journalism.

Of course we need ground-breaking and brave investigative journalism in a democracy. But that journalism cannot be without scrutiny itself, and this is rightly happening in this sad situation.

I worked on a magazine for ten years. Here is one example of the media mindset that is prevalent. We were looking into Traveller issues and a Traveller boy of 10 was run over on a site we had been to .... I reported this back to the editor whose eyes gleamed with delight and he said "Oh that sounds good - did he die?" You can imagine my response. The editor was a decent man, but the headline grabbing aspect of this "story" was his first thought.

It has made me feel sad.