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On August 5th Jason Arday, Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, resigned after being outed for plagiarism allegations, personal qualifications and alleged achievements.
The D.E.I. hire was appointed in 2023 as Cambridge's youngest Black professor, but investigations by the school cast doubts about his claimed accomplishments which became public.
For example, Arday claimed to have run 30 marathons in 35 days. I've run a dozen in my life and let me just say, this is almost impossible. And in one version, he claimed to have suffered an epileptic seizure and fractured his leg on the 21st marathon but finished the rest. He also claimed to have run 300 miles in 3 days, and 600 miles in 6 days, occasionally describing it as Edinburgh to London.
He also claimed to have raised over £5 million (or specifically £5.5 million and counting) for 70–80+ charities over roughly 18–20 years, most notably Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Shelter, largely through the ultra-running challenges. (He later said this was as part of a larger syndicate/collective of about 100 people whose names he could not disclose due to NDAs.) Earlier versions of his story included lower but still substantial figures, such as nearly £250,000 by his late 20s or over £100,000 since age 17.
The real mindblower was regarding his personal background and overcoming adversity. Supposedly, he was diagnosed with autism along with other developmental delays, at age 3, and was non-verbal until age 11, just prior to his 12th birthday, when he "miraculously" spoke. He claimed to have been illiterate until age 18. Other related details in his self-accounts of his history include learning disabilities, epilepsy, a benign brain tumor, and other health challenges.
But wait . . . there's more.
Arday also claimed to have played academy-level/semi-professional football, did relief work with WaterAid, [installing water points in South America and West Africa. He was also an Olympic torch bearer for the London 2012 Olympics as a highlight of his fundraising work, and was shortlisted many times for The Mirror's Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year Award which earned him various honors tied to these efforts.
His PhD thesis was clearly plagiarized and he even incorporated the same grammatical errors the students from whom he copied and pasted, or whatever, made.
Sadly, Jason Arday was found dead on Friday, 14 August 2026. Multiple reports from outlets including the Associated Press, BBC, CBC, and others stated he was found unresponsive at a home in Battersea, south London. His family, via his publisher Simon & Schuster, expressed shock at the loss. The death was listed as non suspicious and I suspect he was responsible himself.
I blame Cambridge for not vetting him beyond his claims and race. He checked all the victim boxes and Cambridge had to be licking their chops when he applied there for employment.
I suspect Arday just couldn't stand the public humiliation and having to face the reality of who he actually was.
D.E.I. is also dying and in this case, that's a good thing.
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