Surprise! Jason Arday Was Also a Shit "Teacher;" Did Not Teach Actual Academic Subjects, Just Riffed About Racism and Popular Music In Every "Class"

You don't say.

If this sounds familiar -- it is. "Professor" Cornell West has written no books for decades but has edited a few and recorded a rap album as his contribution to scholarship.

It's the whole grift. They're not being hired for any kind of actual scholarship, but are just paid for their identity.

The song lyrics were the first red flag. The way he'd ramble about Tinie Tempah or Eminem, or how black artists like Beyoncé were sexualized by white men, without offering any evidence to substantiate his claims. Or else there were the film clips, from Fish Tank and Kidulthood, which he'd tell us to discuss without offering guidance on how to do so. And this was if he was even in the classroom at all. He often arrived late and left early, once teaching for a single hour when four were scheduled.

So when I saw Jason Arday's name in the news, my first thought was: "finally!" As a student on the Education module Arday taught at the University of Roehampton, back in autumn 2018, a module replete with music but shockingly light on education, I can't help but have thoughts on the story that's unfolded over the last couple of weeks. For me, though, the real surprise is that it didn't all come out sooner.

...

I can honestly describe Arday's teaching as terrible. He rarely used the PowerPoint slides. Instead, he usually sat casually on a desk, giving his generalized views on racism without ever referring to any academic theories -- let alone those relevant to the "Youth Participation and Identities" module he was supposed to be teaching.

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At first, my classmates were charmed by Arday's cheerful attitude and inspirational stories. To start with, too, they were interested in his claims that white people were guilty of every kind of prejudice. Yet as the module progressed, and he failed to turn up for yet another class, things began to change. It gradually dawned on us that we were learning nothing of substance, and that much of his talk was nonsense.

When it came to our assessment, Arday recommended we answer one of the two essay questions -- there were four options -- that mentioned ethnicity. This, after all, was the only thing he'd talked to us about. I remember one young, black, female student coming to me in the library as we began to draft our essays and saying: "I don't know what to do, I've read my notes and there is nothing there I can use!" She wasn't the only one, and I offered advice as best I could, writing my own essay using the online resources Arday's predecessor had left.

In the end, Arday gave me 70% for my essay. That sounds good -- except that my average for the year was 75%, meaning my overall result was dragged down. Particularly as Arday had given my work no feedback, I asked for a meeting. At Roehampton, marking is blind, so he wouldn't have known who'd written which essay. In our meeting, I explained that 70% was a low mark for me and asked him to provide feedback. Suddenly, his friendly, confident demeanor changed. I now saw a side of him I'd never seen before: angry, but also scared. Arday implied that I was racist, and said that the only reason I wasn't happy with 70% was due to my "white privilege". He was clearly upset at being questioned, and I ended the meeting as quickly as possible.

I don't really know what this student was expecting, to be honest.

Some of this racist, low-IQ hustler's former "students" want their grades reviewed -- and their tuition refunded.

Hit 'em in the wallets, that's where it stings.

Cambridge University could be forced to review the grades given to students of Jason Arday after graduates unhappy with their results said they were considering legal action.

A number of Mr Arday's former students have complained that they received lower grades than expected after "inadequate" supervision by the professor. In one case, a student who asked to change supervisor was accused of being racist.

Kb>Separately, Prof Deborah Prentice, the university's vice-chancellor, is facing demands to refund the tuition fees of students who were taught by Mr Arday after they were "deceived about the nature of their education".

A mass refund or large-scale retrospective grade changes would be unprecedented in the university's 800-year history.

Prof Prentice is also facing criticism for failing to grip the crisis engulfing the university, which has damaged its reputation on the international stage. The academics have accused the £507,000-a-year leader of the university of "inaction", having made no public comments since The Telegraph first reported on the plagiarism row around Mr Arday a fortnight ago. He has now resigned.

It has also emerged that when Cambridge was sent fresh evidence of Mr Arday's alleged plagiarism last year -- having first been alerted to it in 2023 -- the "responsible person" allocated to the case was Prof Hilary Cremin, the head of Mr Arday's faculty who had told him he was "the best in the world" when he was hired.

On Friday, Cambridge announced that it would be reviewing the process by which it appoints senior staff, in what is being seen by some academics as an attempt to head off an independent inquiry.

Cambridge is facing a rebellion from its own academics, who have demanded in a letter to Prof Prentice that there must be "a thorough and transparent investigation into the wider circumstances of this damaging episode".

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Former Cambridge students who contacted The Telegraph complained that Mr Arday gave them minimal supervision, telling some they did not need supervision because they were so outstanding, only for them to get lower grades than predicted. One student who asked to be allocated another supervisor was accused of racism (though there is no suggestion Mr Arday made the accusation).

Now, ex-students have said they are considering appealing to Cambridge to review their grades, including one case where a student appealed their grade at the time but had their appeal rejected.

One former student said the "right and moral thing to do" would be for the university to reopen their appeal.

Simon & Schuster is going ahead with the publication of "his" ghostwritten book, the one they paid £1.4 million for. (Note I previously said $1.4 million, but it's 1.4 million pounds, or about 1.9 million dollars.)

They did some last-minute stealth-editing to remove some of the most obvious lies.

EXCLUSIVE: Simon & Schuster Selectively Edited Disgraced Scholar Jason Arday's Memoir To Soften Now-Toxic Reputation The Free Beacon has obtained two advance proofs of the book, due to be released in the US next week, and identified telling edits made in recent months

Benjamin Ryan

Jason Arday, who resigned from his prestigious professorship at Cambridge on Wednesday after the university launched an investigation into his academic integrity, is now facing more scrutiny as Simon & Schuster is set to publish his memoir in the United States next week. But the Washington Free Beacon has obtained pre-publication proofs of the book, which show that during the early months of this year the publisher removed what could have been much more fodder for the already rampant accusations of academic misconduct and false claims.

Edits to Arday's online biography on Simon & Schuster's website, the Free Beacon reported this week, further suggest that the publisher knew as long as a year ago that there were questions about the author's credibility and truthworthiness.

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The wider public would not learn of the accusations against Arday, including those of pervasive plagiarism, until last month. But Simon & Schuster had been making telltale edits to his book since January.

The Free Beacon examined two pre-publication proofs of the book: a U.S. version dated Jan. 6, and the U.K. final edition, dated June 18. Comparing the two iterations reveals that Simon & Schuster made a series of changes, including altering verbatim quotes, that appear to have been an effort to protect his reputation--which is all the more valuable now that he stands accused of sweeping embellishments, dishonesty, and even academic fraud. One edit effectively acknowledges the possibility that he could lose his professorship.

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The co-writer, Eve Claxton, a Brooklyn-based ghostwriter and editor, goes uncredited on the book's U.S. cover. It's unusual for a professor to need such help writing a book, much less his own memoir.

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Simon & Schuster's edits also make it harder, perhaps deliberately, to corroborate or disprove Arday's stories. The names of two publicists involved in his charitable efforts--and the names of certain professors and a disability officer--were replaced by pseudonyms, or the names were removed entirely.

The January 2026 edition specifies the names of two PR agents, Dick Tutin and Mick Thorburn, who helped publicize his purported effort to run 30 marathons in 35 days for charity in 2010. The Free Beacon was unable to reach them.

The June 2026 edition provides pseudonyms for Dick Tutin and Mick Thorburn, who become "Paul" and "Keith." The edition states on its first page: "The names and identifying details of some people depicted in this book have been changed."

Today, Arday is faced with convincing accusations of serial fabulism. A previous Free Beacon investigation found he lied repeatedly, dating back at least 16 years, about raising millions for charity, often via undocumented charity running events. Another Free Beacon report found there were no police reports or other independent accounts of his claims of being a victim of violent threats and stalking since starting at Cambridge.

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The June proof of Arday's memoir also contains critical new legal language. In the January proof, Arday claimed that "I continue to be persecuted, receiving hate mail motivated by racial animus." In the June edition, this sentence removes the specific claim of hate mail and just states: "I have continued to face harassment and persecution as the subject of targeted campaigns driven by racial animus."

The September Carter-Ruck letter to Times Higher Education accused Grove of a "campaign of harassment," which it said was "targeted" and might have been "racially motivated."

The woman who hired Arday says that universities shouldn't care so much about grades and educational achievement.

No shit.

Remember, this Sage told Arday that he was "the best in the world in terms of the research you do."

Research? Spending all class talking about rap music and accusing white students of racism?

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:40 PM

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