The death of Professor Jason Arday is proof that words have power, and that academia has a place in the global conversation about human rights. 

We the alums, faculty, staff, and members of a worldwide public who believe in free and fair academic spaces urge Cambridge administrators to stand by the legacy of a man whose life was demolished for sport…despite never once being found guilty of the plagiarism allegations hurled against him by a self-fashioned eugenicist (and disgruntled, disgraced, former Cambridge faculty member), who forfeited his own opportunity to be a source of service and pride to higher education by freely choosing to air personal prejudices that made him unfit for the professional work of educating a diverse student body, living and researching amongst diverse fellow faculty and staff, or upholding even the most basic tenets of modern science.

This entire ordeal represents a travesty of justice, and a betrayal of all that higher education stands for.

We urge administrators at the University of Cambridge to keep this community safe and lead others by example with a statement to the public that:

1)        condemns the news media sources that disregarded facts in favor of racist and ableist fictions

2)        contextualizes the initial accusations as those brought by a disgruntled, disgraced, and deliberately racist former employee

3)        stands by the fact that Arday's PhD  dissertation withstood investigation and was not found to be plagiarized.

In a moment where this nearly thousand-year-old institution has the means to lend light to this current darkness, let redeeming a lost life be the motive and an open statement to the public be the method. Means, motive opportunity: let's correct this crime against the right to make mistakes and receive rightful, respectful scrutiny with a stand against outright hate. 

Thank you,

We the Undersigned