When he was 37 in 2023, Jason Arday became the youngest black professor in the prestigious 800-year history of Cambridge University in England.
Speaking on American Family Radio (AFR)’s “Today’s Issues” program, Alex McFarland, a Christian apologist and author, says Arday's story began to unwind this last July when a former colleague accused Arday of plagiarism and lying about his backstory.
“It became apparent that his backstory was complete fabrication. His dissertation was plagiarized from a diversity of sources, cut and paste from Wikipedia,” McFarland states.
The Dispatch published an article titled “The Cascade of Dysfunction That Helped Doom Jason Arday.” It examined multiple factors that lead to the worst possible conclusion to the case.
It appeared that Cambridge was aware of the plagiarism and Arday’s fabrication in some interviews at least since 2023. However, they refused to acknowledge or engage until certain leaks of Arday’s falsehoods and controversial media attention demanded the institution to step in regarding the matter and open an investigation.
However, Arday killed himself, surrounded by accusations that he had only gotten his position because of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — that he was hired just because he was black.
“When there was this global meltdown over Jason Arday's plagiarism and really a whole backstory that was a lie, he killed himself,” McFarland says.
McFarland, who is also a host of AFR's “Exploring the Word” program, writes in an article titled “When DEI becomes DIE” that nothing good comes from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“DEI is anathema to everything that America and the West has been about,” McFarland states.
Arday had actively tried to cover up his wrongdoings when others — one a fellow academic and the other a journalist — began to question him, reporting them to the U.K. police.
McFarland says that had Jason Arday done the work instead of taking the shortcuts, he would be alive and very successful today.
“In a Christian America, not everybody is guaranteed success, but everybody does have the chance. If you work hard and apply yourself with God's help and for God's glory, you can become something,” McFarland says.
