Jason Arday’s life may be a warped fantasy. But so is this conversation around DEI

Cambridge’s youngest Black professor has resigned. But the discourse around his departure is rooted in its own distorted reality

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Few stories have dominated discourse and headlines like that of Jason Arday. The University of Cambridge professor, now resigned, was accused of plagiarism, and appears to have made up an awful lot of fantastical stories about his life. But weeks into the affair, it feels that there has been an additional layer of reality-distortion: this time, by the rightwing press and in broader public discourse. This week, I try to unravel some of the falsehoods that have taken hold around the matter.